After nine months of uncertainty and fears that services would be stripped from the Millmead Family Hub in Margate, Kent County Councillors have today (March 13) agreed to grant funding for a further year.
The campaign to reverse a Kent County Council decision to axe its £222,127 contract with Millmead Family Hub and a £204,302 contract with Seashells hub in Sheerness provoked a huge outcry from the public and councillors across the political spectrum.
KCC Cabinet member for integrated children’s services, Cllr Sue Chandler, had approved the contract cuts – due to come in force from April 1- but the decision was then called in by Labour councillors Mel Dawkins and Jackie Meade backed by Independent Cllr Barry Lewis.
In November the decision on ending commissioned services at both Family Hubs was postponed following representations from Cllr Lewis who put forward a recommendation to delay the decision until new government funding was finalised.
Despite the postponement and a one-off £4.1m extra family hub funding award from government, the decision was not initially reversed and Millmead was instead awarded around £40k Healthy Living Centre funds for public health activities.
The issue was then taken to a scrutiny committee who voted for it to be discussed at a full council meeting today.
At that meeting Cllr Chandler revealed that she has now received confirmation from government of the strict spending controls for KCC’s allocation of the Year 4 Family Hub Grant and this meant she could explore options for directly funding core Family Hub services to be delivered by Millmead and Seashells for the next financial year.
She told the meeting: “All we are striving for is the best for our families and children.”
She said although the family hub funding would be for only one year, if services continued to be successful it was “entirely possible” that funding could continue via other streams.
The meeting heard that in future years money could come from an annual £6.2m allocation from government for children’s services.
Although there were concerns over the details of the one-year agreement, and how much funding would actually be allocated, it was backed by the overwhelming majority of councillors.
The amount of funding to be awarded will be decided after negotiations with both centres.
Cllr Lewis told the meeting: “It has been nine months of hard labour, especially for me. In 50 years of campaigning and eight years of being on the council this is my proudest moment.
“I fought the original decision to close Millmead and now we are at this stage. It’s not a knockout win but I think it is a win on points.”
He thanked those who helped with the campaign including fellow councillors Jackie Meade, Roz Binks, Paul Carter and district councillor Martin Boyd and all at Millmead Family Hub.
Cllr Binks said her support was based on it being a “simple efficiency” decision with the centres providing the best value for money service.
Cllr Karen Constantine said the Conservatives wanted to save face and protect Cabinet Member Sue Chandler and that the wording of the motion had been ‘baffling.’
However, she added: “It was Labour County Councillor for Folkestone East, Jackie Meade who took this motion to the scrutiny meeting, thereby giving both groups a potential lifeline.
“The Kent Labour group would like to thank the people and staff of both Millmead and Seashells family hubs, for their fight to retain these vital services and for working with us and putting their confidence in us. Without their community leadership we wouldn’t have achieved a further year of funding.”
Cllr Andrew Booth, who proposed the motion to allocate the one year funding to the centres, said it was only the second time in 25 years that a decision had been referred from scrutiny back to full council.
The management team of the Millmead Family Hub said they were “delighted” to be able to continue providing services to the community.
In a statement, they said: “We are delighted to confirm that we are not closing our services.
“We will remain open as usual to deliver the full range of services advertised on our social media platforms.
“We remain committed to our vison to promote and develop a thriving community where families and their children are empowered to seek a positive future in which they are healthy, safe and achieving their full potential.
“Thank you to all to those who are and have supported us through this difficult time and we can, together, continue to build a great future!”
The team also said they were celebrating after collecting four awards from the Thanet Community Champions Awards yesterday.
These were:
- Thanet Community Champions Care and Compassion Award for the Millmead Family Hub,
- Thanet Community Champions Award for Diane Evans (Outreach Community Lead),
- Thanet Community Champions Awards for Jan Collins (Chairperson)
- Thanet Community Champions Award to the Millmead Family Hub.
Ward councillor Jack Packman said: “This outcome is a testament to the incredible strength of our community. When we unite and advocate for what matters, we can truly make a difference.
“I would like to extend my deepest thanks to all the staff at the family hub, as well as to the stakeholders, local elected members, and the Dane Valley Residents Association for their unwavering dedication and collaboration with the Children’s Centre in achieving this positive result.
“A special thanks goes to our MP, Polly Billington, who has campaigned hard against KCC’s threat to close Millmead, and for more funding from the government for family hub services.
“This is a significant victory, but the one-year funding extension means Millmead’s long-term future remains uncertain.
“Until such time as Kent County Council commits to sustainable funding for Millmead, I will continue campaigning to save this vital community asset and the lifeline it provides to local families.”
East Thanet MP Polly Billington said although the year’s funding was welcome, KCC needs to ‘stop dithering’ and commit long-term funding. She said: “Today’s announcement that funding for the Millmead Children’s Centre will be extended by a year is hugely welcome. I want to pay tribute to the staff and families at Millmead, my Kent Labour colleagues, and local campaigners in Margate who have fought long and hard to save Millmead from closure.
“But a one-year extension doesn’t end the uncertainty for Millmead families and is yet another example of chaotic decision-making by Kent County Council.
“By doing this, the council is admitting that they were wrong to try and axe vital family services in one of the most deprived wards in Kent.
“Instead of dragging this out for another year, Kent County Council should hold their hands up, end the dithering, and commit to long-term sustainable funding for this vital community asset.”
Great result, let’s hope a permanent solution can be achieved.
Proud to have led the successful campaign to save the iconic millmead children centre. I never promised we would win, so the victory is sweeter.
Jolly well done Barry, the Labour Party will miss you, and all Democratic Socialists they are expelling! They wouldn’t even allow John Prescott membership now if he were alive, and applied for membership!
Not at all-they don’t want socialists in the party now, only Tories & Lobbyists going after the worst off in society, to make the richest even more wealthy.
Well done Independent Councillor Barry Lewis for all your hard work on KCC. Hopefully you will be re-elected on 1st May to continue your excellent work on behalf of Margate residents.
Let us hope enough decent people reject the ugly, populist, xenophobic message of Reform UK.