Concern for future of 32 family centres over council shake-up

Kirklees Council chiefs are working through plans to save money but they are determined not to close any of the centres.

They have drawn up savings related to management and overheads which will save £630,000 this year and £800,000 next but within the next two months are expected to release further details of their money saving plans.

On Tuesday council leaders agreed to ask people what services they considered essential and which ones less important.

The consultation process will begin once the council draws up a list of its planned cuts for each of the 32 centres but the proposals will not be set in stone and could change depending on the views of residents.

The council has plans to downgrade 17 of the centres, which the authority will call “associate” centres. The rest, which will offer the full range of services, are being called ‘lead’ centres.

The aim, according to the council, will be to focus services “on the children and families in greatest need of support”.

The consultation will begin in the next few weeks.

Councillor Cath Harris, Cabinet member for children and families, said the idea to reduce services at some centres was up for discussion.

“We encourage anyone interested to put forward their views and help us shape the best service we can provide for families.

“The consultation is important and we are keen to hear opinions from a wide cross-section of the community. These services are vital to many local people.

“Throughout the review of family support and children’s centres, we are reflecting our strong desire to continue providing services for everybody who needs them.

“Other local authorities are considering closing up to half of their children’s centres, but that isn’t a route we intend to go down.

“Our intention is to maintain and sustain what we already have because it’s well established that we provide good quality services across the whole district.

“This is all one strand of a wider programme to look at how we tackle issues in young people’s lives at an early stage so that problems don’t escalate. Early intervention isn’t just about the early years period in a child’s life.

“As a result of the swingeing cuts imposed by central government we have no choice but to make savings, but we are trying to ensure this happens with the least possible impact on local families. In many cases we would not expect there to be any impact at all.

“The review is carefully designed to have long-term benefits and, through the consultation process, we will consider every single comment we receive before final decisions are made next year.”

There is no proposal to close any children’s centre buildings. Instead, the consultation will be about how to reshape services based on “lead” and “associate” centres, she added.

Any services lost at an ‘associate’ centre would be provided at the “lead” centre.

According to the plans, the 15 lead centres would be in areas with higher deprivation and a higher proportion of families in need of support. They would co-ordinate services across the area and be the hubs for management and administration.

Kirklees Council is carrying out a number of reviews in response to a large cut in funding from government.

A council spokesman said: “The review is designed to have long-term benefits as focusing on those in greatest need helps to prevent damaging health and social problems in future.”

The report said the redesigned model would “flexible enough to respond to changing demand”.

Trade unions have already expressed their fears that some of the centres will eventually close.

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