Seeking to protect the most deprived

As a member of Warwickshire County Council’s Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, I would like to respond to remarks appearing in the Courier last week about our examination into proposals for children’s centres.

The O&SC met in ‘select committee’ in August to examine all the issues. We took evidence from council officers, centre managers, parents of children using centres and partners in health provision. Our final response to the consultation includes nine recommendations, which go before cabinet on September 12.

No one feels pleased about the cutbacks, passed by the last administration when there was a solid Conservative majority. Children’s centres across the county are now facing an average 30 per cent budget cut. Of the two examples shown to the committee, both centre groups face budget cuts of around 37 per cent, with any attendant redundancies potentially increasing that cut. Our committee has recommended that future funding for children’s centres be ring-fenced.

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It is a statutory requirement that children’s centres be funded to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged children and families. The committee recommends that, “cabinet recognise the needs of deprived families across the county and how they will be affected by the reduction of the Family Support Funding”. The FSF is the allocation within the budget for deprivation factors. Some members of the committee, a majority, felt strongly enough of the importance of this issue to give it prominence in our recommendations to cabinet.

Some members, all Conservative coincidentally, moved that option which cuts the overall budget by 30 per cent and will hit the Family Support Funding especially hard; Labour members and others voted against.

Jenny St John, Labour County Councillor for Warwick North