Green Party activists in Stoke-on-Trent have expressed
their concern about plans put froward by the council to close three children’s
centres as part of a proposed £7.1million in budget cuts.
The cuts are part of a package of savings that will
see the three children’s centres closed, along with the loss of twenty-two jobs
and cuts to non-statutory social care services including closing the city’s
Meals on Wheels service [1].
A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said “the
proposed closure of three children’s centres is deeply concerning. It will have
serious consequences for families that are struggling and, together with the
other cuts represents the ongoing salami slicing of services used by the most
vulnerable people in our city.”
The three children’s centres under threat of closure
are in Blurton, The Crescent Meir, and Norton. Two other centres, Burslem and
The Treetops would be transferred to be run by third party organizations by
April of next year, it is not clear whether they would retain their legal
designation as children’s centres.
The city’s five other current centres would be
retained and developed as ‘family hubs,’ at which support, and outreach
services would be delivered in a way the council claim will ‘allow
us to focus our resources on those services that make the most difference to
families by reducing spend on the administration, maintenance and management of
our buildings. The proposal also aims to build on the changing ways that people
use our services’ [2].
Family
hubs are part of a £500million government initiative to offer ‘one stop’ advice
and support to families. As part of the plan £82milliion will be shared by 75
local authorities to fund the new ‘family hubs’.
Although
welcoming the additional funding being made available leading children’s
charities have criticised the government for not going far enough. Neil Leitch
of the Early Year Alliance told the BBC in October that not enough was being
done to address problems in the early years sector, particularly the challenges
faced by nurseries.
Also
speaking to the BBC Alison Morton of the Institute of Health Visiting said
children’s services had had a ‘really challenging time’ during the pandemic and
that the government needed ‘to go an awful lot further’ if it was serious about
building back better for children and families [3].
The
council say services will not be reduced and will be delivered using alternative
venues including schools and community centres and that the changes will allow
it to ‘spend the limited money that is available to us on delivering better
services and less money on maintaining buildings’.
Referring
to claims services will be unaffected by the changes the North Staffs Green
Party spokesperson said, “any change to how and where services are delivered
can be problematic for families, particularly in a city with a public transport
system that often falls far below an acceptable standard of service, the
council do not appear to have fully recognised this awkward fact of many
people’s daily lives”.
Conservative
council leader Abi Brown said the council had to reduce spending on
non-statutory services to ‘focus’ funding on the areas where it was needed most
and drew attention to the £154.4 million set to be spent on adults and
children’s social services next year.
This
will be partially achieved through extra funding from central government, there
will also, if the proposals go through, be a 2.99% rise in Council Tax bills
for residents.
Speaking
to The Sentinel this week Councillor Brown said the council had ‘worked really
hard’ to retain children’s centres and recognised that the centres proposed for
closure were valued by the communities they serve, saying "I know this will be a
disappointment to some people out there. We've worked really hard to make sure
the reduction is kept to a minimum. The government has been clear that family
hubs are the way forward, and we are keen to capitalise on that."
The North Staffs Green Party spokesperson said “disappointment
at seeing their children’s centre closed is putting it mildly, too mildly. Many
families will despair at seeing yet more cuts to services”, adding “we are
committed to being by their side in campaigning to protect these and other
vital services from being axed”.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is holding a public
consultation on the proposed changes to Children’s Centres, details about the
proposals and how to respond can be accessed at: https://www.stoke.gov.uk/childrencentresconsultation
[1]https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/childrens-centres-close-tax-go-6439025
[2] Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Summary of
Proposed Changes to Children’s Centres in Stoke-on-Trent, accessed 7/1/2022
[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59018031
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