Jobs at risk at Plymouth children's charity

Staff receiving 1-2-1 consultations

Redundancy concerns have hit a children’s charity in Plymouth after funding was cut to run family hubs.

Barnado’s, which employs 74 staff across its six family hubs in the city, has confirmed it is consulting with its staff and needs to reduce costs.

This is as a result of Plymouth City Council cutting the core contract budget for family hubs by around £300,000 over a two-year period.

It is understood that there will be an announcement next week regarding redundancies and/or staff hours being cut.

There are fears that this could affect the services provided to Plymouth’s most vulnerable families.

Barnado’s runs family hubs in Cattedown (Nomony), Plympton (Rees) Efford, Four Woods, Southway and Barne Barton (The Barn).

These hubs are part of a wider network in Plymouth focused on supporting families from pregnancy to age 19 (or 25 with special educational needs). Other hubs are run by Action for Children and LARK.

The axe could fall on roles that help SEND families where there is a huge demand for services, one concerned person connected to the charity who wishes to stay anonymous told the Local Democracy Service.

“Around 80 staff are affected,” they said. “In regard to families that will be affected, it will be hundreds. I don’t know how many are going to lose jobs as the proposal isn’t very clear on what this looks like in terms of people.”

One Barnado’s employee said staff were asked if they would take voluntary redundancy and when they said no, asked if they would be willing to have their hours cut or apply for other positions they were not qualified for.

“The whole thing is an absolute mess, the council and Barnado’s are not thinking of the families,” they said.

Barnardo’s has been involved with running children’s centres and family hubs in the city for 10 years.

Sarah Crawley, Barnardo’s director of children’s services in the south west said:  “We are currently holding a consultation with Barnardo’s staff across our family hubs in Plymouth due to a considerable reduction in the funding Barnardo’s receives. 

“To ensure we can continue to provide the range of support and assistance that children and families expect from our services, we are looking at ways to reduce our costs. 

“We continue to work closely with Plymouth City Council to ensure families are able to access the support they need, when they need it, from our family hubs.”  

A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council said the family hubs contract was agreed by the council’s cabinet in December 2024, for an initial two‑year period from April 1 2025, with the option to extend for a further year. 

“As part of this decision, the core contract budget was set in the context of wider local authority financial pressures and there was a reduction in the core contract budget of around £300,000 over the two‑year period. However, this does not reflect the full picture of our investment in family hubs.

“Alongside the core contract, we are investing significantly in family hubs through additional grant funding, including £1.35 million from Best Start in Life and Public Health funding across 2025/26 and 2026/27. 

“This additional investment supports priority outcomes for children, young people and families and demonstrates our continued commitment to the family hubs model.”

The council said that the hubs were “a vital part of our early help offer, providing trusted, community‑based support for families and helping children and young people get the best start in life”.

“ We value the role they play in bringing services together, reducing inequalities and supporting families earlier, and we remain committed to sustaining and strengthening this provision despite the financial challenges facing local government.”

Council papers show the total contract value for 2025/26 at £2.4 million with a drop to £2.1 million in 2026/27.