On another busy (and snowy!) Friday in the constituency last week, I had a meeting with representatives of the Pen Green Centre and NNC's leadership at the Corby Cube, regarding their funding position with regard to the integrated centre provision, with a view to guaranteeing the future of those services in our community for the years to come. I cannot be any clearer on this issue: Pen Green provides a vital service for young people and their families in our community, and they must be funded to continue this vital work, utilising appropriate funding streams - and indeed, I would argue as the Government has consistently intended through its funding allocation to our area over many years.
Pen Green's work undoubtedly helps to ensure the best start in life for many local young people, whilst supporting their families, and I am continuing to work closely with the leadership team at the centre to raise their concerns with the appropriate representatives from NNC and with the Department for Education. Meanwhile, I am also pushing for the centre to be at the forefront of the Family Hubs initiative here in North Northamptonshire, following the recent announcement by the Government of our inclusion as one of 75 areas nationally to benefit from this.
You can also see a recent update video I made on these efforts, here: https://tinyurl.com/29npnxxh