Swindon Borough council will tonight propose a cut of £770K to the children’s centres budget; a cut that comes exactly one year after the removal of £390K from the budget resulted in the closure of 4 centres across Swindon.
Swindon Borough council will tonight propose a cut of £770K to the children’s centres budget; a cut that comes exactly one year after the removal of £390K from the budget resulted in the closure of 4 centres across Swindon.
Just last year, in summer 2013, Anne Snelgrove, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for South Swindon, joined with parents to launch a campaign against both the proposed cuts and the way the Council were ‘consulting’ with the community about the changes.
Local parents at the time raised concerns that such cuts take away the additional support and intervention measures the children’s centres provide meaning the resulting centres are no more than child minding services.
The council also came under fire last year for the timing and communicating of the consultation – which coincided with family holidays, and was brief. This year’s consultation look set to follow the same pattern.
Commenting on the latest plans, Anne Snelgrove said: “The Conservatives’ appalling decision to halve the budget for Swindon’s Children’s Centres will affect the future of vulnerable children across Swindon for years to come. It means their life chances will be lessened as all studies show that intervening at an early age can break the cycle of deprivation in troubled families, something acknowledged by all political parties and the Prime Minister David Cameron.
"Cutting another £770K from the Children's Centres budget means that early intervention cannot be delivered comprehensively in Swindon. I fail to see how the council will fulfil its duty to work with the most vulnerable children when most parents will live too far away the remaining centres to make use of them.