Last Chance to Have Your Say on Children's Centres

 

The cuts appear to be predetermined and given the nature of the service and the site specific proposals it appears impossible to maintain the overall level of service, as ECC claims is its intention, whilst making such substantial cuts in funding.

 

There is a further contradiction in the intention to focus on "actual services" and "less on buildings". In many cases the physical building is the focus of delivery of many of the key services and reducing hours or closing buildings will mean that families have a reduced service by definition.

 

The Greens believe that It is unfair to try, as the County Council keeps doing, to pretend that major cuts in budgets will not affect front line services. They do affect those services and it would be more honest to admit that. As Essex residents are seeing in highway maintenance and local capital projects, funding reductions are leading to a declining service.

 

The County Council states in the consultation that "families are prepared to travel to access joint services". This is a sweeping statement. Some families do not own a car and need to walk or use public transport or share transport. If their local centre is closed or has greatly reduced hours they may be unable to travel and so are more exposed to the social and health impacts of losing access to these vital family services. There are particular concerns about service reductions in rural areas for this reason.

 

The County Council also claims that closures will be taken up by merging services with neighbouring centres. However, no definition is given of what 'neighbouring' means. In rural areas this can mean many miles distant.

 

 

Site Specific Concerns

 

As Green Councillors have already raised with the ECC Cabinet Member Cllr. Dick Madden, the consultation is flawed in that the existing hours for each centre are largely not shown in the consultation document. Therefore it is impossible for anyone without detailed knowledge of each centre to compare the proposed and existing hours except in the few cases where "no change" is indicated in the document. To be fair and transparent, the consultation should have detailed existing and proposed hours for every centre.

 

 

Cllr. James Abbott, County Councillor for Witham Northern said

 

"In Witham Northern division we have 3 Children's Centres. Families will be potentially affected by the ECC proposals as one is proposed to be closed and 2 are proposed to be scaled back.

 

Little Lanes at Black Notley is proposed to be closed. 

 

Roundabout at Templars School, Witham is proposed to go from 40 hours a week to just 10 hours.

 

Silver End is proposed to go from 40 hours to 20 hours a week.

 

In respect of Braintree District as a whole, of the 4 village Children's Centres, one is proposed to be closed and the other 3 all are proposed to have short hours. This represents a clearly unbalanced proposal as far as the rural areas are concerned and ignores the catchment of the larger villages such as Silver End."

 

 

The Leader of Essex County Council stated that in respect of the Children's Centre consultation and other consultations (Essex Chronicle 21st November)

 

"It isn't to say we're going to cut these services irrespective of people's views, we're going to listen".

 

 

Cllr. James Abbott added

 

"Many people will be looking closely to see what evidence there is when the Cabinet reports are drawn up that this consultation is what it says it is, and not (another) process where ECC has already closed its mind to different views. If the end product is substantially the same as that proposed in the consultation document, many will conclude that people's views have not been listened to.

 

Cutting support to families is likely to be a false economy. There will be social and health impacts down the line which other authorities will then have to try and deal with. Through these difficult times we need to continue to support families and give young children the best possible start in life." 

 

 

ENDS

 

 

 

To take part in the consultation up to midnight Thursday 5th December:

 

website 

 

www.essex.gov.uk/childrenscentres

 

e-mail

 

haveyoursay@essex.gov.uk