Union condemns council plans to close children's centres

A union has condemned a council's plans to close two-thirds of its children's centres as it tries to save £28m.

Nottingham City Council is consulting on plans to close six children's centres and cut 91 posts in its 2022-23 budget.

Unison said the plans would impact disadvantaged communities in the city.

The council said it faced "extremely difficult decisions" unless it received "adequate funding" in an awaited financial settlement from government.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), councillors agreed to start an eight-week consultation on plans to plug a £12.2m void in the 2022-23 budget at an executive board meeting on Tuesday.

It will also need to save another £15.7m - and is expected to reveal plans on how it will save this amount in the new year.

The authority is proposing to close six of nine city children's centres, which provide support to parents and children, and move to a three-centre model to save £331,000.

The centres provide early help for parents with newborns to five-year-olds, as well as parents with disabled children.

There are also proposals to cut 91 full-time posts at the council, of which 23 are currently vacant.

It also plans to reduce play and youth services, saving £615,000, reduce the frequency of some Linkbus services as well as increasing Medilink bus fares to save £371,000.

In addition to these plans, the council has proposed the introduction of administration charges for second and third residential parking permits to make £412,000 of savings and a charge for bulky waste collections, which is estimated to save about £80,000.

The public consultation runs until 10 January.

Labour councillor Cheryl Barnard, portfolio holder for children and young people, said: "Parents and young people will find this very difficult reading.

"Valuable intervention and provision work with children and young people have taken the brunt of the savings.

"We will be looking at different models of delivery and will work with organisations to maximise the opportunities for young people.

"For me, it has been a difficult budget to come to terms with. It is with regret we are having to make these cuts."

A Unison spokesperson said: "The approach taken by the city council is short-sighted and will ultimately lead to longer-term problems and financial pressures when demand on statutory services are likely to increase given the ongoing social and financial impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic."

Last year the council cut 272 jobs despite raising council tax rates by nearly 5%.

The authority said it had made £303m of savings since 2010, and lost a further £19.4m due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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