Cabinet will be continuing with its decision to close children’s centres in Swindon after its recent consultation. The only change Cabinet have proposed is for an additional £190K of one-off money to be spent over two years on Family Support outreach work to be focussed on specific areas in the borough that have a high number of vulnerable children.
Cabinet will be continuing with its decision to close children’s centres in Swindon after its recent consultation. The only change Cabinet have proposed is for an additional £190K of one-off money to be spent over two years on Family Support outreach work to be focussed on specific areas in the borough that have a high number of vulnerable children. The final decision on the future of Children’s Centres will be taken at next week’s Cabinet Meeting.
Councillor Cindy Matthews, Labour’s Shadow Lead for Children’s Services, said: “We welcome any additional money that will be spent on family support; however this additional money will barely be a sticking plaster on the effects these children’s centre cuts will have and basically Cabinet have endorsed what they originally proposed back in July which is the closure of many children’s centres.
From a purely financial perspective I think this decision is terribly short-sighted. Evidence has proven that Children’s Centres can prevent young families from reaching a crisis point and this is important because referrals to Children’s Social Care in Swindon has increased by 38% in the past year and children in care costs on average between £23,000 and £56,000 per child per year. So if the Council fails to support families who might fall in to crisis then it can ultimately be very costly for the local authority in the more intense support they need to provide when families reach a crisis point.
But what I think will particularly infuriate families affected by these changes is the spending commitments the Cabinet are willing to make instead of on young families and children, and you only have to look at the £15m the Council spent on a car park to show where the Cabinet’s priorities lay.”