Community Services Consultation

Update: 1 December 2023

Following debate at our Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee on 22 November and our Cabinet on 30 November it has been decided to proceed with option 3 as set out in Appendix D of the Cabinet papers. You can see all of the Cabinet papers here.

Based on this decision we will be closing 43 buildings across Kent, keeping two additional buildings that were originally proposed to close in our consultation document. This option took into consideration consultation feedback around the accessibility to services using public transport and the regularity of service and travel times to alternative locations. By implementing this option over the next two years, we expect that we will save £1.27m against the property revenue budget and reduce our maintenance backlog by £5.85m. Whilst there are 43 building closures within this option, our services will continue to be delivered from alternative locations across the District and the County. You can view the list of buildings set to close here.

The decision includes the co-location of some of our services together within single buildings – for example placing children’s services within library settings. This idea is not new, and you may well be aware of excellent examples of where we already co-locate our services, alongside other partners, and providers, to deliver services locally to our communities.

The Kent Communities Programme (Community Services) represents the first major changes to our network of buildings in over 40 years and we know that the changes proposed will undoubtedly impact some of our residents. Having based our Programme on a comprehensive assessment of service need across the County, the model continues to protect services for our most vulnerable communities. As a Council we are confident that the changes proposed will mean that services will be delivered in the right place, in the right way for those who depend on them.

Thank you for taking part in the consultation and for your interest in the Kent Communities Programmme.

Update: 15 November 2023

The consultation report and cabinet committee papers are now available for the Community Services consultation about where we propose to deliver community services from fewer permanent buildings.

In addition to where (Community Services consultation) we will deliver our services, cabinet committee papers regarding Family Hub services have been published for the Children, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee. The papers set out how we support the delivery of a range of services for children, young people and families (including children’s centre services, youth provision, health visiting and community-based midwifery care).

The proposals in these papers set out the options for where and how we will deliver these services in the future considering the consultation feedback.

Members will consider the proposals the two cabinet committees on the 21 and 22 November, before a final decision by Cabinet on the 30 November.

Five options for where services are delivered are being put forward for consideration. You will find more detail on these options in Appendix D of the committee papers. Here is a summary:

Option one: go further - given the financial challenges we face, one of the options to be considered is to do more. And by this, we mean closing more buildings than were originally proposed in the public consultation.

Option two: implement the consultation proposal – the proposal set out in the consultation is forecast to save £1.37m against the Council’s property revenue budget and would reduce our backlog maintenance bill by approximately £6.34m.

Option three: accessibility – this option has been developed in response to the feedback to the consultation. We have updated the Need Framework to take account of the accessibility to services using public transport and the regularity of service and travel times to alternative locations.

Option three highlights the need to keep two buildings that were proposed for closure at consultation. This option forecasts that we will save £1.27m against the property revenue budget and reduce our maintenance backlog by £5.85m.

Option four: go further with accessibility – this option continues to build on the transport accessibility by adapting the model to retain an additional ten buildings (including the two retained in option three above).

This option would reduce our forecasted savings to £1.1m against our property revenue budget and reduces our backlog maintenance by approximately £4.84m. We would close 35 buildings.

Option five: do nothing – this option would mean we keep all the buildings we proposed to close in the consultation. This option would not result in any financial reductions against existing budgets, reduce our backlog maintenance, reduce the CO2 from our building footprint, or increase the number of co-location sites, however it’s important that all options are considered. It also takes no account of the evidence set out in our Need Framework.

A coordinated series of decisions are planned between Community Services and Family Hubs and will be made at a Cabinet meeting on 30 November.

Update: 7 July 2023

Thank you again for taking part in our consultation and for your interest in our proposals. We are continuing to review feedback received during the consultation and we are assessing various options for proceeding.

The decision is now due in November 2023 (date subject to change). This page will be updated with reports and decisions nearer the time.

Update: 27 March 2023

Thank you for taking part in this consultation. Your feedback is currently being analysed and a consultation report will be produced.

A decision on the next steps is due to be taken by Cabinet in July (date subject to change). This page will be updated with reports and decisions.

Update: 1 December 2023

Following debate at our Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee on 22 November and our Cabinet on 30 November it has been decided to proceed with option 3 as set out in Appendix D of the Cabinet papers. You can see all of the Cabinet papers here.

Based on this decision we will be closing 43 buildings across Kent, keeping two additional buildings that were originally proposed to close in our consultation document. This option took into consideration consultation feedback around the accessibility to services using public transport and the regularity of service and travel times to alternative locations. By implementing this option over the next two years, we expect that we will save £1.27m against the property revenue budget and reduce our maintenance backlog by £5.85m. Whilst there are 43 building closures within this option, our services will continue to be delivered from alternative locations across the District and the County. You can view the list of buildings set to close here.

The decision includes the co-location of some of our services together within single buildings – for example placing children’s services within library settings. This idea is not new, and you may well be aware of excellent examples of where we already co-locate our services, alongside other partners, and providers, to deliver services locally to our communities.

The Kent Communities Programme (Community Services) represents the first major changes to our network of buildings in over 40 years and we know that the changes proposed will undoubtedly impact some of our residents. Having based our Programme on a comprehensive assessment of service need across the County, the model continues to protect services for our most vulnerable communities. As a Council we are confident that the changes proposed will mean that services will be delivered in the right place, in the right way for those who depend on them.

Thank you for taking part in the consultation and for your interest in the Kent Communities Programmme.

Update: 15 November 2023

The consultation report and cabinet committee papers are now available for the Community Services consultation about where we propose to deliver community services from fewer permanent buildings.

In addition to where (Community Services consultation) we will deliver our services, cabinet committee papers regarding Family Hub services have been published for the Children, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee. The papers set out how we support the delivery of a range of services for children, young people and families (including children’s centre services, youth provision, health visiting and community-based midwifery care).

The proposals in these papers set out the options for where and how we will deliver these services in the future considering the consultation feedback.

Members will consider the proposals the two cabinet committees on the 21 and 22 November, before a final decision by Cabinet on the 30 November.

Five options for where services are delivered are being put forward for consideration. You will find more detail on these options in Appendix D of the committee papers. Here is a summary:

Option one: go further - given the financial challenges we face, one of the options to be considered is to do more. And by this, we mean closing more buildings than were originally proposed in the public consultation.

Option two: implement the consultation proposal – the proposal set out in the consultation is forecast to save £1.37m against the Council’s property revenue budget and would reduce our backlog maintenance bill by approximately £6.34m.

Option three: accessibility – this option has been developed in response to the feedback to the consultation. We have updated the Need Framework to take account of the accessibility to services using public transport and the regularity of service and travel times to alternative locations.

Option three highlights the need to keep two buildings that were proposed for closure at consultation. This option forecasts that we will save £1.27m against the property revenue budget and reduce our maintenance backlog by £5.85m.

Option four: go further with accessibility – this option continues to build on the transport accessibility by adapting the model to retain an additional ten buildings (including the two retained in option three above).

This option would reduce our forecasted savings to £1.1m against our property revenue budget and reduces our backlog maintenance by approximately £4.84m. We would close 35 buildings.

Option five: do nothing – this option would mean we keep all the buildings we proposed to close in the consultation. This option would not result in any financial reductions against existing budgets, reduce our backlog maintenance, reduce the CO2 from our building footprint, or increase the number of co-location sites, however it’s important that all options are considered. It also takes no account of the evidence set out in our Need Framework.

A coordinated series of decisions are planned between Community Services and Family Hubs and will be made at a Cabinet meeting on 30 November.

Update: 7 July 2023

Thank you again for taking part in our consultation and for your interest in our proposals. We are continuing to review feedback received during the consultation and we are assessing various options for proceeding.

The decision is now due in November 2023 (date subject to change). This page will be updated with reports and decisions nearer the time.

Update: 27 March 2023

Thank you for taking part in this consultation. Your feedback is currently being analysed and a consultation report will be produced.

A decision on the next steps is due to be taken by Cabinet in July (date subject to change). This page will be updated with reports and decisions.

  • Our proposals


    We are proposing changes to the way we use our buildings to deliver some of our community services. We invite your feedback on our proposals as part of this consultation.

    Why are we proposing changes?

    The Council has experienced big increases in costs and has less money to spend. So, we need to look ahead and do things differently to make sure we can still help residents in the years to come.

    Whilst ensuring we provide effective support for residents who need our services, we need to:

    • tackle the rising costs of maintaining our many buildings
    • find savings, so we can balance the budget
    • reduce our carbon footprint to meet our Net-Zero ambitions.

    What services are included in the proposals?

    The services are: Children’s Centres and Youth Hubs, Public Health Services for Children and Families, Community Services for Adults with Learning Disabilities, Community Learning and Skills (Adult Education), and Gateways.

    What are we proposing?

    • Having fewer permanent buildings, meaning that some of our buildings would close - we want to keep buildings in areas where they are needed the most
    • Co-locating more of our services, meaning more than one service would be available from some of the buildings you might visit
    • Continuing to deliver some services by outreach, which means they do not take place in a dedicated or permanent space, but move around to when and where they are needed
    • Ensuring residents can continue to access services and information online.

    Our proposals have been designed by considering where there is greatest need for our services.

    How to get involved

    Full details of the proposals are in the consultation document - you can just read about the service(s) you're interested in. You can also view one of the design handbooks which tells you about the proposals just in your area: Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells. You can also watch our short video to find out more.

    Complete the consultation questionnaire to give us your views.

    Come along to one of our drop-in events across Kent to find out more and ask your questions.