Update 16 January 2025

Thank you to everyone who took part in this consultation. The feedback from the consultation has been carefully analysed and considered.

The Consultation Report and the updated Equality Impact Assessment are now available from the 'Documents' section on this page.

These documents were presented to Members of the Children, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee in November 2024. The Committee papers include more information, along with the Committee Report and Responses to Consultation Feedback.

After further consideration, Sue Chandler, the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, has now taken a decision not to renew the contracts for the non-KCC Family Hubs at Millmead, Margate and Seashells, Isle of Sheppey when they end in March 2025. The decision is now subject to a call-in period. This webpage will be updated if the decision gets called into Scrutiny.

Sue Chandler said: “KCC is under critical financial pressures, now and in the future and like a lot of decisions the council is having to make at this time this was not easy, but I must ensure our services are equitable, efficient and effective for all Kent residents.

“Although KCC has recently welcomed just over £4m as Kent’s share of the government’s recently announced £126m national funding boost for early years support, this money is subject to strict spending and delivery requirements. We are awaiting full details of these from the Department of Education, but we know this money must be used to fund the core delivery aspects of our Family Hubs and must all be used within the next financial year only. Therefore, we are unable to consider this to commission ongoing services at Millmead and Seashells Family Hubs.

“I know this will be deeply upsetting for those who currently use these Family Hubs but I want to ensure them that we remain committed to providing all Kent’s children with the best start in life and continued support as they grow, and core Family Hub services will still be available from nearby KCC locations.

“Moving forward, we are in discussions with partners and the buildings’ owners around what future KCC outreach services could be delivered from there to support their local communities.”

Original consultation text

This consultation is about the future of two commissioned Family Hubs contracts in Kent: Millmead Family Hub in Margate and Seashells Family Hub in Sheerness. Currently, we pay for external providers to run Family Hub services in these locations and their contracts are due to end on 31 March 2025.

We must decide whether to put new contracts for delivery of these services in place (re-procure the contracts) or not. If we do get new contracts in place, we would be required to run a new process which would be open to the current providers and any new providers to bid for the contracts.

Millmead and Seashells are the only two externally commissioned Family Hubs in Kent. The rest of our Family Hub provision is run directly by the Council. We are proposing not to get new contracts in place and instead provide services that people can access from other locations, ensuring a consistent approach in all areas of Kent.

This consultation focuses only on the commissioned Family Hub services and does not include any of the other activities such as the nursery provision, food banks or multiple other services at each site. In the Consultation Document, we explain which services are part of the contracts KCC has at Millmead and Seashells that are included in this consultation.

How to get involved

We recommend you read the Consultation Document before responding to this questionnaire. We are keen to hear your views on our proposals and how any changes may affect you.

To take part in the consultation, please complete the online questionnaire. Parents/carers and other individuals should use the Residents questionnaire. Staff, professionals and organisations should use the Professionals and Organisations questionnaire. Alternatively, you may wish fill in a Word/paper version and return it by email: familyhubsfeedback@kent.gov.uk

Or you can:

• Post it to: Family Hubs Consultation, Invicta House, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XX
• Hand your questionnaire in to Millmead Family Hub or Seashells Family Hub.

If you have any questions, please contact us on familyhubsfeedback@kent.gov.uk.

Drop-in Events

Come along to one of our drop-in events to discuss the proposals and ask your questions:

Margate Family Hub, Monday 2 September, 10am to 1pm, at Margate Family Hub, The Six Bells, 201 High Street, Margate, CT9 1WH

Sheppey Gateway, Tuesday 3 September, 11am to 2pm, at 38 to 42 High Street, Sheerness, ME12 1NL

Millmead Family Hub (please note, this is a change from Margate Family Hub), Thursday 12 September, 10am to 1pm, at Millmead Family Hub, Dane Valley Road, Margate, CT9 3RU

Seashells Family Hub (please note, this is a change from Sheppey Gateway), Friday 13 September, 10am to 1pm, at Seashells Family Hub, Rose Street, Sheerness, ME12 1AW.

Next steps

Following the end of the consultation we will take all responses into consideration and produce a consultation report. Depending on the feedback we receive during the consultation we would expect to present options to Members for a decision later this year. The current contracts end on 31 March 2025 and so if there are any changes they would be implemented on 1 April 2025.