Family hubs model will extend support for families across Wiltshire

Families and young people will have wider opportunities to access support and advice in their local communities under a new hub model being proposed by Wiltshire Council.

If plans are agreed, from April 2024 a new family hub model will be in place providing support and advice for families with children or young people aged from 0 - 19, or up to 25 for those with Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities.

The proposals echo the wider Government push to champion family hubs which include an accessible digital platform offering information, advice, support and courses alongside 21 family hubs located in community buildings across the county where families will have regular access to a team of Navigators, who will have a visible presence in the hubs and the wider community, so that they are accessible to as many people as possible.

The navigators will work with all customer-facing staff to ensure a consistent service is available for families at all times in the relevant community buildings, and the staff there will be trained to offer assistance and signposting to families.

They will be the central point of contact and will develop relationships in the community and with clusters of schools and early years providers in the local area.

The proposals are in line with feedback from families and young people through a recent survey, and 24 face to face consultation events across the county, when they were asked a range of questions, including how they wanted to find out information about services available in the local area to support them and their family.

The most popular answer was via a website (465); followed by social media and through the child's educational establishment, which were joint second choice (380); then posters and leaflets (229); being able to talk to someone on the telephone (223); receiving support individually (222); and finally being able to talk to someone face to face (215).

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, said: "We are excited about the delivery of family hubs and redesigning services to make it easier for families to access help and ultimately improve the long-term prospects for children and families across Wiltshire. This is in line with our business plan to ensure people are empowered to live full, healthy, and enriched lives by getting the best start in life, staying active and living well together and families are able to access support when and where they need it.

"The support we're providing must match how families want to access that support right now to be effective. These proposals will mean people can access information and support swiftly both online and at places local to them. There will be an accessible digital platform offering information, advice, support and self-help courses. Alongside this the navigators at hubs across the county will provide a visible presence and advice. If approved, we would like these hubs to be operational from April 2024, bringing services together and putting relationships at the heart of family help."

The proposals will be considered by Cabinet on 13 June. If the recommendation is agreed, a single provider will be sought to operate the contract across Wiltshire alongside the council's own Family Key Workers. Navigators will operate from 21 community buildings across the county including leisure centres, libraries and schools.

The family hubs will replace the support currently offered by children's centre services who support families of children aged from 0-5 years and they will instead offer support to families of children and young people up to the age from 0-19 years. The current contracts with The RISE and Spurgeons are due to end on 31 March 2024 and will allow the delivery of Family Hubs which will allow co-ordinated support to be available in one place for more families.