I’m absolutely delighted that our Family Hubs initiative has gone from strength to strength since launching last year.
The scheme, which helps families in Peterborough to get help and support quickly and easily, recently celebrated its first anniversary and has already achieved several notable milestones.
We currently have three main physical hubs established at Honey Hill Family Hub, Orton Family Hub, and First Steps Family Hub, as well as a growing digital offer on our website.
The breadth of services available from the hubs includes parenting and feeding advice, support with wellbeing and mental health, and early language development.
The wider service offer supports the whole family no matter what age the child is, this includes parenting, drug and alcohol support, mental health services, financial and legal support, somestic abuse and reducing parental conflict support, youth services, immunisations and SEND Support.
Since launching, there has been a 139per cent increase in footfall into the family hubs, due mainly to the increase in services offered and public knowledge of the offer increasing.
Face-to-face sessions, which are key to delivering effective support to families, increased from 21,219 in 2022/23 to 24,945 in 2023/24, which is a 17.5 per cent rise.
A total of 434 professionals and volunteers have accessed training via our workforce development programme in a wide range of courses from parenting to mental health support.
Since launching Family Hubs we’ve also seen an increase in take up of healthy start vouchers from 25.6per cent in 2022 to 77per cent in 2024. There has been a rise in uptake of second dose of MMR due to a vaccine campaign, plus improved maternal mental health mood scores for those parenting a perinatal MH support session, with 80per cent of participants improving on their baseline scores.
I would like to thank everyone involved in Family Hubs for their continued dedication and hard work, which is helping us achieve our key goal of improving outcomes for children and young people and their families.
We have also organised a fun-filled progamme of free family events over the school summer holidays, which are fully booked which is fantastic and great opportunity for us to engage with more families in Peterborough. Events include circus workshops, sporting activities, outdoor adventures and more.
You can book places at https://forms.office.com/e/48sjjmZXVv or by emailing familyhubprogramme@peterborough.gov.uk
We are encouraging all residents, particularly those who regularly travel by bus, to have their say on plans for bus improvements in the region.
This week, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) launched it bus franchising public consultation, which runs until November 20 and will inform a decision by the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Dr Nik Johnson, on how to reform buses across the area.
The consultation will compare a franchising solution with an Enhanced Partnership approach. Under a franchised network, the CPCA would contract bus operators to run services on its behalf but have control over the routes, frequency, fares and overall standards of the region’s buses. An alternative Enhanced Partnership solution, while producing benefits over the current bus service, provides less control over the routes, frequency and overall delivery of the services.
The CPCA will use various ways to share information about the consultation and to engage with people during the 14 weeks. This will include letters, briefings, newsletters, face-to-face events, focus groups, research (online surveys), media, social media, and posters and leaflets at bus stations.
Please have your say if you can, for more information visit https://cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk/
We’ve had a fantastic response from landlords to the council’s Selective Licensing scheme which has received over 7,000 applications since launching in March.
The scheme is aimed at raising standards in the private rental sector and requires landlords in designated areas of the city to apply for a five-year licence to prove their accommodation meets certain standards.
This positive response shows that the vast majority of landlords in the designated areas are committed to providing good quality housing for their tenants. We would encourage anyone who hasn’t yet applied for the scheme to get in touch with us as soon as possible.
For more information about Selective Licensing visit www.peterborough.gov.uk
Young people across Peterborough will be receiving their A-Level results this week and I would like to wish everyone the best of luck.
Once again, our city’s A-level students have worked extremely hard, and I would like to congratulate them all for their commitment and dedication.
Teachers, support staff, parents and families have played a vital role too – supporting, encouraging and inspiring our young people to do their very best.
I would also like to make young people aware that there is a range of help available for anyone who is unsure about their next steps and needs advice, whether that’s over future careers or further education opportunities. Anyone in need of careers advice can visit https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk or call their helpline on 0800 100 900. Anyone who is anxious or struggling can visit www.keep-your-head.com/cyp