Bexley Council is planning to establish a borough-wide network of Community Hubs, aiming to provide residents with simpler, more accessible, and joined-up support closer to home. The initiative, approved in principle by the Public Cabinet on July 1, 2026, seeks to build on existing programmes like Family Hubs and Best Start in Life, with a stronger focus on prevention and early intervention.
The vision for these hubs emphasizes maximizing the use of the public estate and exploring alignment with NHS Neighbourhood Health Centres. Councillor David Leaf, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources and Transformation, highlighted the initiative's alignment with the Council's Target Operating Model and transformation programmes, stating it supports a shift towards prevention and early intervention.
Cabinet members welcomed the proposal, emphasizing the importance of accessibility and integrated services. Councillor Janice Ward-Wilson, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, noted the potential for hubs to improve outcomes while reducing pressure on higher-cost services by preventing escalation of need. She also welcomed the commitment to making better use of existing public assets, including libraries and community centres.
The Community Hubs are envisioned as a network of core hubs acting as universal access points, supported by spokes of targeted, flexible service delivery. Services could include health, care, welfare, and community support. The model aims for integration beyond co-location, with shared triage and warm handovers to ensure coordinated, timely access to the right support. Specific services will be developed through detailed design and feasibility work, informed by local needs assessments and partner input.
Discussions during the meeting also touched upon the need for clear communication and ensuring that the hubs remain focused on their intended purpose, avoiding mission creep.
The council aims to integrate services rather than simply co-locating them, ensuring that organizations share information and coordinate care effectively. Robust data sharing agreements compliant with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 will be required.
The Community Hubs vision is expected to deliver improved outcomes such as earlier resolution of issues, enhanced safeguarding and wellbeing, improved financial resilience, greater community participation, and whole-life transformational benefits. It is also anticipated to contribute to reduced demand on higher-cost statutory services by strengthening prevention and early intervention. The model could be iterative and learning-led, using data, local insight, resident feedback, and service experience to refine delivery over time. A full evaluation framework will be developed during the detailed design phase.
Further detailed design, feasibility studies, and partnership engagement will be undertaken before final proposals are brought back to the Cabinet. The report indicates that following approval of the vision and approach, a significant programme of further work will be required, focusing initially on engaging partners to test and secure alignment. This will be followed by detailed design, feasibility, and delivery planning. A further report with detailed proposals will be brought back to Public Cabinet at a later date. No specific timeline for the operational launch of the first hubs is provided.
The Community Hubs vision aims to make better use of the existing public estate, including libraries and community centres. Hub locations and service functions would be determined by a robust assessment of local need, utilizing existing community assets where appropriate and feasible. The ultimate driver would be ensuring services are located where they are most required and can be delivered most effectively. Detailed criteria for selection will be developed during the next phase of detailed design and feasibility work.
The introduction of the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) in April 2026 is mentioned as a potential multi-year funding source to support the development of the Community Hubs model. The report also notes that revenue implications will be developed as part of detailed design work and may draw on a mixture of existing resources and CRF funding. It is anticipated that capital requirements may relate to modest refurbishment, digital infrastructure, or internal reconfiguration. No estimated total budget for establishing the borough-wide network is provided.
The Community Hubs model would be iterative and learning-led, using data, local insight, resident feedback, and service experience to refine delivery over time. The model could adapt as needs change, building on what works and addressing gaps across different neighbourhoods. The principles of 'Place-based and proportional to need' and 'Prevention-led' are central to the vision, aiming to prioritise early identification of need and timely support to prevent escalation and reduce reliance on high-cost crisis services. The strategy will be subject to annual review to ensure hubs remain relevant and meet intended needs.
Further details can be found in the Public reports pack for the Public Cabinet meeting on July 1, 2026. Agenda frontsheet