Archive for month: March, 2024
A focus on early support available for families and young people as they are invited to have their say
Parents, carers, and young people are invited to have their say on future services for children, young people and families in West Northants as part of a consultation to refresh and review their local support offer.
The consultation is an opportunity for families to input into what their 0 to 19 services look like for children and young people, and how families would like to access support, advice and information in a way that is convenient and right for them.
The consultation is available now for residents to complete via the online survey here: https://westnorthants.citizenspace.com/family-hubs/services-for-cyp-and-families.
All responses from the survey will be anonymous, with the feedback being collated and used to inform the new service model for Council funded 0 to 19 services and the approach to how the Council, together with other local organisations improves the offer regarding early support for children and young people in West Northamptonshire.
This comes at a time in West Northamptonshire, where this is a huge focus on early help services for our families and young people, with this consultation being an important part. Together with other local organisations, the Council is looking at the early help offer and how this can be strengthened to ensure there is the right, preventative support available. The consultation responses will directly feed into project and service development including:
- Establishing local Family Hubs in West Northants with the aim of ensuring all families with children aged between the years of 0-19 can access help, advice and support they need for a wide range of services much more easily. This includes exploring different ways to make services accessible – for example building an informative website, creating in-person ‘hubs’ where various services are available for families in one place.
- Planning of the Council’s service specification for our 0-19 services – understanding what families and young people would like from these services will help create a localised offers that meets the needs of our population.
About the early help offer
The focus on the early help offer is about how together with other organisations such as health and the voluntary sector and community organisations, the council can ensure families can access timely and helpful support to offer information, advice and guidance on a range of topics (this may be advice on newborn support and development, vaccinations for children, mental wellbeing advice for teenagers) to name a few examples. By ensuring that people have access to the right early help can make a difference to their wellbeing, development and ultimately, life experiences.
Across West Northants, there are some excellent services which provide early help support, for example, our schools, health colleagues, voluntary sector, libraries, and others. However, the needs of children and families that require help and support continues to increase and it is essential the council meet the needs of our population and streamline how people can access this support. It is only by listening and engaging with those that have used these services or are likely too, that a service offer can be built that is right for local families.
The consultation closes on Sunday 28 April 2024 at midnight. All responses from the survey will be anonymous.
Ambassadors of Change
Connect Northamptonshire has delivered a successful Emerging Leaders Programme for our VCSE sector. Find out more about the Programme from our new “Ambassadors of Change” in this video here
Tethered Fortunes
The recent publication Tethered Fortunes makes for grim reading. Written by Doctor Beth Kitson and others, it states unequivocally that the future of charities (large and small) will be directly impacted by the finances of Local Authorities. Much of the news lately has been about Local Authorities considering bankruptcy (the serving of a section 114 notice) as they try to stay afloat and continue to provide services to local communities amidst huge funding shortfalls in some cases. The talk of swingeing cuts across all areas of a Local Authority’s operation has been spoken of by council leaders across the UK: And of course, Northamptonshire has recent history regarding this. Set against a backcloth of a sharp and deep cost of living crisis, where more people are vulnerable than ever before more demand is certain, and its clear that many of the most disconnected will fall through the cracks. One would like to think that the VCSE could provide for these, but that’s uncertain in the current landscape.
The report also states that Local Authorities, who have historically been supportive funders of the VCSE, are beginning to disinvest. Disinvestment takes different forms: It can be seen through the operation of non – inflationary grants and contracts (effectively asking the VCSE to do more with less) or reductions in funding programmes (certainly asking the VCSE to do more with very much less).
The report also argues that when Local Authorities fail, the VCSE sector tethered to it is likely to fail also, and certainly takes years to recover post failure.
The report can be seen here
The solutions are complex. Asking the VCSE to disinvest from its traditional Local Authority partner is difficult, but in some cases it may be a route to survival. Diversifying a portfolio though (long in the making) is no easy task and can take years to achieve.
Providing more for less can only be sustained in the short term. Eventually the house of cards will topple.
If the report is too depressing to read in its entirety the conclusion page provides an excellent synopsis. Ultimately our communities and the people we all want to service will suffer, and that’s disappointing, frustrating and alarming for all to see.
