05/11/03 - Cumbria to go for Beacon Status for Early Years (Eden)

Cumbria County Council is now seeking Government approval for Beacon Council Status for its much-praised Early Years and Childcare Service because it truly believes it has a national role to play in helping other regions develop similar integrated services.   

The Beacon Council Status scheme aims to identify the best performing authorities, which act as centres of excellence from which other local authorities can learn. Co-ordinated by the Office of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, nearly 200 Beacon Council Status awards have been made since the Government launched the scheme four years ago.  About 50 awards will be made in the next round with Early Years and Childcare (the Sure Start agenda) a key category for examination with the winners being announced in April 2004.

Joan Stocker, Cabinet Spokesman for Education, says 

“Cumbria’s excellent service deserves national recognition because it really does lead by example with numerous example of good practice. Indeed, several other local authorities are already seeking out Cumbria’s expertise, keen to adapt their own services to the model developed here. Some counties want to learn about how we consult with our service users, which is helping to identify the needs of the area and develop an integrated service which responds to the priorities of partners like the Police, Connexions, the health service and regeneration agencies.  Cumbria County Council has demonstrated that it is possible to work effectively at local level and draw together all the key organisations to meet the needs of the community.  This administration recognised early on that the Early Years and Childcare service needed to be consolidated under one structure to improve performance and focus.  Since then a flexible and forward-thinking structure has been developed with an excellent mixture of skills, knowledge and experience to deliver real benefits to our communities.”

Cumbria County Council has a proven track record of delivering national objectives in an innovative and supportive way to meet the needs of diverse communities in Cumbria. It does this through dynamic partnerships with providers and service users across the range of statutory, voluntary and private sectors. The Council wishes to be at the forefront of the Government’s Sure Start agenda, which places great emphasis on local authorities delivering expanded services that embrace childcare, health and family support. 

An example of one of the innovative schemes currently running in Eden is the Travellers Play Bus Scheme.  The bus has been funded through the Mini Sure Start Programme and provides much needed additional early years and health provision for Travellers families in the area.  Traveller families have traditionally lived at Hadrian’s camp in Carlisle and Lakeland View in Penrith for many years, their children have attended local primary schools and there has been a growing need for these children to access nursery education in the area. A mobile nursery was set up in the past to travel between the two sites and offer quality nursery provision for the Traveller children.  As the need for a more coordinated and countywide approach of services to Traveller children and Minority Ethnic groups was recognized, the Specialist Teaching Service took on the responsibility of providing for these groups.  Sure Start considered this to be such an important service and therefore agreed to fund the new purpose built double-decker bus.  Elaine Thomas, Mini Sure Start Programme Manager says,    

“This bus provides an opportunity to promote social inclusion and improve access to education & health services in this area. Cumbria EYDCP was awarded £470,000 over 2 years from Sure Start for additional services to the existing pre-school education service. The money was spent on this new specially adapted bus, together with the staff & equipment to run more education, play, and health & training sessions for children & parents. Traveller families are a significant minority group in Cumbria and their lifestyle means that children have received disjointed educational experiences in the past.  We are fully committed to increasing access to services while respecting the values & culture of the Traveller community.”   

For more information on childcare services in the area please contact the Children’s Information Service on 08457 125737.