Hampshire County Council is undertaking consultation on the development of Sure Start Children’s Centres across the county, under phase 3 of the Government initiative.

A target of an additional 23 children’s centres has been set by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).  The phase 3 children’s centres will be developed to enable access to high quality services for all children under five and their parents. Consultation is central to the development of children’s centres in Hampshire; and a range of consultation activities will take place to inform their development.

Consultation stages

The phase 3 strategy stage of consultation covered the period 1 May - 31 July 2008 and has now closed.

The phase 3 service development stage of consultation is now open and will cover the period 1 August - 31 December 2008.  This consultation stage is seeking views from parents and carers on the services local children’s centres should provide, as well as the key priorities for children’s centres in the local area.

The phase 3 strategy stage of the consultation programme ran over a three month period from 01 May to 31 July 2008.  

This stage of consultation set out the vision for delivering phase 3 of the children’s centre programme within Hampshire, including proposed Notional Catchment Areas, through a briefing paper and supporting questionnaires.

There were two questionnaires made available in electronic format (website, e-form and email) and in hard copy included as part of this consultation stage; one for parents and carers and the second for practitioners and other partners.

The parents and carers questionnaire sought views on:

• services local children’s centres should provide;

• key priorities for children’s centres in the local area.

The practitioners and other partners questionnaire sought views on:

• the proposed strategy, including Notional Catchment Areas, and any other issues of possible concern;

• known sites from which a gateway building or outreach service could be delivered;

• services which could work in partnership with children’s centres to meet the core offer.

Once the consultation analysis has been completed, the final strategy proposal paper will follow the Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services (Education) decision process, starting at the end of August and concluding on the decision day being held on 09 October 2008.  On the successful approval of final proposals, these decisions, alongside the consultation summary paper, will be published.

The phase 3 strategy stage consultation summary paper and decisions will appear here shortly.

Although the consultation period for the phase 3 strategy stage has ended, the ‘Parents and Carers’ questionnaire will continue to be available (online and hard copy versions) until the 31 December 2008.  

This is because the questions in the parents and carers version will assist the individual children’s centres in developing services specifically to meet the needs of their local communities, whilst delivering the children’s centre’s core offer.  This will aim to provide more time for parents and carers to communicate their needs and participate in decisions regarding the services required.

Service development stage - consultation questionnaire for parents/carers:

• Complete and submit online

• Download Word version  537kb

• Download PDF version  92kb