Announcement by County Tories that 80% of Childrenās Centres will close by April 2017, despite 68% of respondents to the consultation saying they strongly disagreed with the closures.
The already reduced Ā£11m budget will be cut by a further Ā£8.5m, so almost nothing left.Ā By law when cuts to services as large as these are intended, a public consultation has to take place.Ā The consultation closed at midday on 3 May 2016.Ā It would be nice to think that it took place because the Tory administration genuinely wanted to improve services, rather than reduce them to fit an arbitrary cut in funding.Ā Itās clear to see that the primary reason to hold the consultation was not intended to improve the service provided by Childrenās Centres, but simply reduce the cost.Ā The approach being taken is to combine the Childrenās Centres with Early Help Hubs, Youth Support and the Troubled Families programme.
One of the 43 Childrenās Centres to close will be the West End Gateway at Townhill Community Centre.Ā From next April, residents will have to travel to the only Childrenās Centre left in Eastleigh, the Aviary in Blackbird Road.Ā The report justifying the closure of West End Gateway gave the reason as āLower level of deprivation and very limited space available making it unsuitable for future useā.Ā According to Google maps, the journey by bus between the two centres can take anything up to 1 hour and 19 minutes.
Opposition County councillors across the parties think that cutting the annual budget from Ā£16m in 2014 to Ā£2.5m in 2017 is shameful and have called the decision in.Ā That is knowing that the only way to reverse this pernicious cut is for the Tories to have a change of heart.Ā A call-in is a technical procedure where a special committee meeting is held, where it is possible to overturn the Conservative cabinet member’s decision.Ā However, there would have to be a majority vote by opposition councillors, but under the committee proportionality system, the Tories hold the most seats and therefore will have the most votes.Ā A call-in was held two years ago in an attempt to stop the Ā£5m cut from Ā£16m, but of course, it failed.
Only the Tories think that public services should be transferred to the private sector!Ā Learn More…