By Council urging locals to guide them on how to best run family services in North East Lincolnshire
The council are seeking locals’ views on the proposals to reshape the available family services in North East Lincolnshire and the support to parents of infants and young children.
A “move away” from the support being available within buildings is being looked into by the council, who are considering offering more support in the form of outreach and community work.
They want to provide the same services, but in “different ways”, allowing them to reach more families across North East Lincolnshire.
While they work to come up with a specific plan, the council now want to gauge the views of residents across the borough, in a bid to encourage them to “guide the plans” and “offer insight into the opportunities and challenges they face”.
A statement from North East Lincolnshire Council reads: “In doing so, councillors stress that the reshaping is not about saving money, but about finding the right fit for families. They stress again that the same services and nursery day care will continue if the plans do go ahead with no reduction in teams or staff.”
Councillor Ian Lindley, portfolio holder for children, education and skills, said: “The services that local families interact with will continue to be available in our communities.
“Through the COVID pandemic we haven’t been able to offer many of our services from our family hubs. Instead, we’ve either delivered them virtually – over the phone or in other virtual means – or by going to people, visiting them in their homes.
“The feedback has been that this is actually very popular, and it takes away that barrier of going somewhere to access these vital services.
“It also means that by seeing children and families in their own homes, we can provide much better, more bespoke support in a more targeted way.
“We’re now asking the public for their views on how services should be delivered and accessed, and we want your views. If you use our family hub services, please take a moment to complete our consultation.”
Matt Clayton, Head of Service Early Help and Prevention at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “These services are so important to the families that use them, so what we’re hoping to do is learn from the lessons of the pandemic, listen to people’s views, and then shape our early help services so that they work best for the families who use them.
“We’re also particularly keen to focus more on the areas that use these services most, rather than having them spread across the area.
“So support will still be available, nursery day care will continue to be offered, and we’re keen to hear from people who use our services and want to help shape how those services are offered in the future.”
The consultation, which runs until 1 August, is asking people for their views on how early help services should be delivered, and whether there are any gaps in services.
To find out more and to have your say, visit www.nelincs.gov.uk/have-your-say.
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