Agenda item

The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, made the following announcement:-

“It is now one year since President Putin launched his barbaric and illegal invasion of Ukraine.

My sympathy goes out to the people of Ukraine who are fighting for their freedom and facing difficult odds. It is vital that Ukraine win this war, if not then Putin has made his views quite clear that he does not acknowledge the borders of the now independent and sovereign states of the former USSR.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or even Poland, would be at risk if Ukraine were to fall to Putin, and let’s not hide from the fact that if he were to invade any NATO country then the United Kingdom and the rest of NATO would be obliged to join the conflict.

The actions of Russia under Putin, reminds us that we must stand up to misinformation, conspiracy theories and bully boy tactics whether this be at home or abroad.

I trust that Western allies can find ways and means of freeing the people of Ukraine from this oppression, and that the people of Ukraine can once again enjoy the freedom that they deserve, away from tyranny and terror.

Doncaster stands with Ukraine during this difficult time, it makes anything that we think is difficult in this country pale into insignificance when we see what the people of Ukraine are having to endure.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone here in Doncaster, are with the Ukrainian people.”

Councillor Rachael Blake, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Communities and Equalities, made the following announcement:-

“Doncaster has recently been successful in being awarded over £3.5m as part of the ‘Best Start to Life’ programme; this will build on our already successful Family Hubs across Doncaster.

Doncaster is recognised by Government as a model for how Family Hubs across the country should operate and our Family Hub provision is widely seen as best practice, as we focus on the work around the ‘First 1001 Days’ and integrated working with communities and GPs.

This new funding will run up to the end of March 2025, and we have already started to allocate the funding by investing in capacity that will ensure a better connection between the universal and targeted offer. We have also introduced capacity that will make it easier for the partnership to engage with families and communities.

Our Family Hubs evolved from what was our Sure Start Centres and this Labour Council has continued to focus on the vital services Sure Start provided. It is rather ironic that the Government is now coming round to our way of thinking and wanting to see our Family Hub model rolled out across the country. Maybe, if they had not cut Sure Start services in the first place, Early Years services across the country would not be in the state they currently are.

Doncaster Family Hubs are the ‘place to go’. We work with other providers to offer a range of activities, services and information for our residents and their family. Think of any service you may need from Day Care and Early Learning to Schools and Education, midwives to health visitors and mental health,  advice on parenting to family support, and adult learning to employment opportunities.

Our Family Hubs are a key part of our communities and I am proud that this Labour Council continues to fund them.  This additional funding and acknowledgement from Government is proof that we are delivering for our families across Doncaster.”