A £1-million support centre for North East Lincolnshire families will help prevent further deaths among abused children, a report to councillors claims.

Members of NELC Cabinet will this week be asked to earmark £1-million for the new centre. Although a site for the centre has not been specified, childcare experts said the multi-agency offers support services to families to help prevent children ending up in the care of the authority.

It will also help young people in North East Lincolnshire suffering from bullying, children with disabilities, children suffering abuse and those living at homes where parents or brothers and sisters use drugs.

The need for a Family Support Centre was one of the main recommendations in a Social Services Inspectorate review of NELC social services which received a "no-star" rating.

North East Lincolnshire has higher than average numbers of children being looked after by the authority. All child protection cases now have an allocated social worker and the number on the Child Protection Register has been cut by more than a third to 89 this year.

There was also a drop in the number of children in care. NELC said the figures, although declining, showed support services to families was needed to help prevent children being brought into care.

Officials recommended resources should move from child protection to family support. It will need a risk management strategy to ensure the increased investment in support services leads to cuts in child protection costs.

Childcare charity Barnardo's assessed the need for family support in the Grimsby area. Portfolio holder for learning and childcare, Coun Mick Burnett said: "All the research, both locally and nationally, points to the need for a greater emphasis to be put on family rather than on child protection, on the basis that such support will tackle family problems before they become a crisis.
We are committed to improving the life chances of all children and supporting families who may, from time to time, experience difficulties."

Councillors will be urged agreed the £1-million capital investment and to hold talks with other agencies to develop a family support and prevention strategy.