Children’s centres review

The total budget for Leeds Children’s Centres in 2025/26 is approximately £3.5 million.

This includes:

• £557,000 from the Early Years Block (centrally retained services), which contributes to the cost of Family Outreach. This work supports the take-up of Funded Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) for 2, 3, and 4-year-olds, helps improve children’s readiness for learning, and assists parents and carers with the school application process.
• £996,000 from the Public Health ring-fenced grant, which supports the delivery of family services and the infrastructure of Children’s Centres. This funding is provided with the expectation that children’s centres contribute meaningfully to reducing health inequalities—particularly through their role in delivering the Leeds Best Start Plan.

As part of the core offer, all children’s centres continue to deliver a range of group activities that promote early learning and parenting support. These services will remain in place even if proposed changes are implemented.

A balanced approach to funding

A new funding formula is being proposed to ensure that early years services are distributed fairly and reflect the needs of local communities. The aim is to strike a balance between universal and targeted support.

What are Universal Services?

These are available to all children and families, regardless of their circumstances. They provide a consistent foundation of support and include:

• access to early education for all 2, 3, and 4-year-olds
• group activities at children’s centres that promote early learning and parenting
• family outreach to support school readiness and applications

What are Targeted Services?

These are designed to provide additional support to children and families with specific needs. They ensure that resources are directed where they are most needed and may include:

• support for families experiencing financial hardship
• services for children with additional needs and disabilities
• support for children learning English as an additional language (EAL)
• help for families with children in need (CIN) or on child protection plans (CPP)
• support for children entering care
• support for other vulnerable groups

This approach ensures that the most vulnerable children and families receive the right support to overcome barriers and achieve positive outcomes.

The proposed funding formula distributes resources based on population and need:

In addition, 5% of the total budget will be retained centrally to support services for vulnerable groups.

This model allows for flexibility and future adjustments, ensuring that services can respond to changes in population and need over time.

Expanding online support from children’s centres

Children’s centres in Leeds already offer some support and family services online, such as parenting programmes, and we know that more families are choosing to access help and information digitally. The Family Information Service website provides information on agencies and organisations providing family support, including family services and children’s centre family services. 

This proposal provides an opportunity to make children’s centre services more accessible by increasing the range of support available online, or by offering a blended approach that combines online and face-to-face delivery.

Examples of what this could include:

• one-to-one conversations with a support worker via video or chat
• further online delivery of parenting programmes, such as HENRY
• a website with clear information and links to other services and support

Before any decisions are made, we want to hear from you.

We’re keen to understand:

• are there any barriers that might make it difficult for you or your family to access services online?
• which services would you prefer to access online?
• which services do you feel should always be available in person?

The final online offer may vary across different areas to reflect local needs. Your feedback will help shape how services are delivered in the future.

Integration with other services

The council aims to align children's centres more closely with other area-based services provided in community hubs, family hubs, libraries, museums and galleries, leisure centres, community centres, health centres, and other venues 

Alternative delivery sites

The review is considering ways we can offer more children’s centre services and support in different buildings such as local cafes, libraries, leisure services, or even in parks. This will mean that some children centre buildings close, however, some services and support could still be provided in a different place nearby.

The overarching intention of this proposal is to provide a more integrated and efficient service delivery model by utilising a variety of community spaces and buildings, ensuring that services are accessible and complementary across different venues.

Leeds has 56 children's centres, each serving a specific neighbourhood. These centres are grouped into 18 delivery groups, each with one staff team covering 3 or 4 centres. Additionally, there are 3 school-led centres that operate independently.

To improve efficiency, it is proposed to reorganise the 18 delivery groups into 7 larger groups, aligned with the 7 family hubs. This proposal is shaped by a combination of strategic, operational, and financial factors:

Better alignment with family hubs and locality working

The proposed groupings are designed to closely align with existing family hub areas. This will support a more joined-up and integrated approach to delivering early years services across the city.

Financial sustainability

The council needs to make savings of £2.45 million from the children’s centre budget. Consolidating services is one way to reduce costs while continuing to provide high-quality support for families.

Fairer and more targeted support

The current way resources are shared doesn’t always reflect the level of need in each area. The new model includes a funding formula that directs more support to areas with higher levels of deprivation, while ensuring all areas continue to receive some level of provision.

Making best use of buildings

Some children’s centres are based in buildings that are underused or no longer suitable. The review includes looking at which buildings should be kept, adapted, or closed to make services more efficient and accessible.

What does this proposal mean in practical terms

Creating 7 area-based groups

The 18 delivery groups currently in place would be reorganised into 7 larger children’s centre groups closely aligned to the 7 family hubs. This change aims to improve communication and reduce the duplication of services in nearby centres.

Changes to how services are delivered

The future model of delivery would be designed to meet the need for early childhood services in all communities, striking a balance between universal and targeted services.

While some centres may close, services would continue through outreach, online support, or by sharing space with other services.

There would also be a greater focus on flexible and online delivery, with stronger links to health, education, and community partners.

Redistributing resources based on need

Budgets would be reallocated so that areas with greater need receive a larger share of funding, while still maintaining universal access to core services.

Benefits of moving to 7 area groups

Stronger coordination

Fewer, larger groups will help improve coordination and make it clearer who is responsible for delivering services.

Fairer funding

Resources will be more closely matched to local need, helping to reduce inequalities in access and outcomes for children and families.

Better integration of services

Aligning closely with family hubs and locality teams will support a more holistic, wraparound offer for families.

Greater efficiency

Streamlining management and reducing duplication will help the council make necessary savings while protecting frontline services.

More flexibility and innovation

The new model allows for more creative use of buildings and digital tools, helping services adapt to the changing needs of families.

Table detailing the children's centres into groups

Children's centres split into 7 groups.

South 1

• City and Holbeck
• New Bewerley
• Hunslet
• Windmill
• Cottingley
• Two Willows
• Middleton 

South 2

• Rothwell
• Kippax
• Villages East
• Ardsley and Tingley
• Gildersome
• Morley South
• Lofthouse
• Morley North
• Farnley

West 3

• Hollybush
• Castleton
• Quarry Mount
• Burley Park
• Armley
• Bramley
• Little London

West 4

• Ireland Wood
• Horsforth
• Farsley and Calverley
• Swinnow
• Pudsey
• Aireborough
• Kirkstall
• Otley
• Headingley
• Hawksworth Wood

East 5

• Gipton (covering Gipton North and Gipton South)
• Osmondthorpe
• Harehills
• Richmond Hill
• Shakespeare

East 6

• Garforth
• Cross Gates and Manston
• Kentmere
• Seacroft
• Swarcliffe
• Meadowfield, Temple Newsam and Colton
• Parklands

East 7

• Boston Spa
• Bankside
• Wetherby
• Meanwood
• Roundhay
• Alwoodley
• Manor Wood
• Chapel Allerton
• Chapeltown
• Moortown

If the proposal to put children’s centres into 7 larger groups is implemented, all the different services in each group will work more closely together, stopping any duplication of services. By working in this way, and to make financial savings, some children’s centre buildings will have to close.

We know that Leeds has more children's centres than any other city and should consider new ways of delivering services, resulting in less reliance on standalone buildings for service delivery. As a result, a review is underway to understand how we can make better use of our buildings and community spaces to deliver services more effectively.

This approach aims to enhance service delivery in collaboration with different council teams and other partner organisations, increasing online services and support to ensure families can access information and support online, and complementing the use of community spaces for in-person services. This combination of online and physical service delivery is intended to provide more flexible and accessible support for families across Leeds. However, it is important to note that although services would continue in other ways, there may be a reduction in the type and number of services offered in some areas.