Croydon's Family Hubs have secured an extension of their funding until March 2029, a move that aims to bolster early help and community-based support for families across the borough with a total of £6.2 million allocated over the next three years.
The extension, confirmed by the Scrutiny Children & Young People Sub-Committee on Tuesday 30 June 2026, will see continued investment in these vital centres. The funding will focus on increasing the number of children achieving a Good Level of Development in reception, expanding the Family Hub network, continuing to bring partners together for universal and early help offers, delivering the Healthy Babies programme, and enhancing outreach through Family Hub Navigators. There is also an aim to increase online services.
This funding commitment is part of a broader transformation agenda for Croydon's children's services, which has seen the appointment of Newton as a Strategic Transformation Partner. This partnership is a central component of the Helping Families Thrive Programme
and is designed to support a comprehensive redesign of services across the CYPE Directorate. Newton's involvement aims to provide additional expertise, delivery capacity, and analytical capability to accelerate transformation and ensure the long-term sustainability of services. Phase One of this partnership, focused on understanding current performance and designing new service models, has reached draft completion. Emerging themes include the need for a more integrated system, a focus on relational and trauma-informed practice, simpler pathway models, and improved data use. While the partnership's specific influence on Family Hubs is not explicitly detailed, its overall aim is to redesign services to respond to rising demand, improve outcomes, and operate effectively within the Council's funding envelope.
Croydon's children's services are facing significant demand pressures, including high levels of contacts and referrals into children's social care, sustained numbers of children in need and in care, and rapid growth in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The transformation agenda, through the Helping Families Thrive Programme
and the partnership with Newton, aims to address these by moving towards a joined-up, preventative and family-led model of delivery
. This involves fundamental system change, with a focus on earlier intervention and prevention, stronger multi-agency working, and more inclusive mainstream provision. The goal is to reduce demand, supporting better outcomes for children and young people and financial sustainability for the council.
The Family Hubs initiative is central to Croydon's Best Start in Life
strategic plan, which aims to increase the number of children achieving a Good Level of Development in reception. One of the key performance indicators for the Family Hubs until March 2029 is to Increase the number of Croydon children who achieve their Good Level of Development in reception.
The target is 78.3% by 2028, as outlined in the Best Start in Life local strategic plan. The plan was developed collaboratively with council, health, Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS), schools, and early years colleagues.
In addition to enhancing developmental support, the extended funding will facilitate the expansion of the Family Hub network. This includes scoping for a new central Croydon Family Hub, building on the success of existing hubs in the north and south localities. The hubs provide a range of services, bringing together up to 24 different services in one accessible location for families. Further details can be found in the Public reports pack for the Scrutiny Children & Young People Sub-Committee meeting on 30 June 2026 Public reports pack 30th-Jun-2026 18.30 Scrutiny Children Young People Sub-Committee.
Agenda frontsheet 30th-Jun-2026 18.30 Scrutiny Children Young People Sub-Committee
