CHILDREN’S centres are a lifeline for parents.

For those who might be struggling to cope, the centres help ensure the best care for their children, providing the perfect place to meet other families. The centres are a crucial source of guidance as they navigate through parenthood.

Brighton and Hove City Council wants to hack back the number of children’s centres from 12 to eight, putting four centres at risk, in a bid to save £800,000.

As well as trying to cram the service into fewer venues, the council is looking at closing all the baby groups in libraries and some community centres across the city, cutting back on staff as well as health visits, and restricting attendance to sessions.

Families will be expected to travel further to get help in remaining venues, club together to form their own support groups or pay for private services.

Ultimately it will be young children, the city’s future generations, who will suffer at the hands of council cuts.

This is why The Argus is standing with families across Brighton and Hove against the plans as we launch the Save Our Centres campaign.

We call on the council to seriously rethink its position in cutting this vital service because the city’s parents, children, and staff involved, cherish and value them.

Trevor Stephens, 23, of Brading Road, Brighton, said: “These cuts are concerning. Money is being spent in other areas but a high priority should be placed on education and the welfare of children.”

His one-year, seven-month- old daughter Cheyenne Older- Stephens, who features on today’s front page of The Argus, loves attending the weekly baby group at Moulsecoomb Library with Trevor and her mother Ria Older-Stephens.

Mr Stephens said: “We’ve only started going recently but it’s brilliant. We wanted her to get to know other children who live nearby and she is making friends.
“Money is tight and we wouldn’t be able to pay to go to a group so it’s important for her development that we can use services like this.”

Mike Gilson, incoming group editor of The Argus, said: “Parenting can be a minefield whatever your situ- ation, so to hear the lifelines for families in our city face major reductions is worrying.

“We know from the sheer number of people we have spoken to that this is not a popular idea and it could have very real consequences for parents and children. They need a voice and someone to fight their cause, which is why we have launched the Save Our Centres campaign today.”

Parents have told The Argus they rely on the centres and are distressed at the thought of closures.

Childcare experts slammed the plans for the effects they would have on children’s development.

A council spokesman said the authority would still support families with the “highest level of need”, such as those from troubled backgrounds or who need extra help with symptoms like behavioural problems. Funding would be focused on children under the age of two.

He added: “The proposals should be seen in the context of rising costs and the council losing around £100 million of government funding over the next four years.

“They are part of a drive to focus council resources on services that will deliver the best outcomes for those families who need most help.”

Parents have united to fight the plans and are inviting everyone to a public meeting to show their support on Friday at the Tarner Community Café, in Ivory Place, Brighton, from 9.30am to 11am.

There is less than a week left to respond to the changes in a council survey and the ultimate decision will be made as part of a budget meeting on February 26.

In the coming weeks The Argus will publish a series of articles looking at all aspects of children’s centre services in detail and will continue to speak to those who could be affected by changes if they are introduced.

 

The council's proposals in detail

BRIGHTON and Hove City Council is looking to make savings of £779,000 to children’s centre services. The venues and related services cost £2,471,000 but the council wants to run them for £1,692,000 in the 2015/16 financial year.

If the plans are approved, tens of thousands of parents and children could be affected. The plans include:

  • Cutting the number of main centres from 12 to eight, by merging four. The four at risk will effectively close, but the council insists the venues will not be sold. A council spokesman said health visitors could continue to operate from the sites. Centres at risk are City View Children’s Centre in Elm Grove, Cornerstone Children’s Centre in Church Road, the Hollingbury and Patcham site in County Oak Avenue, and West Hove centre in Portland Road. City View and Cornerstone could be merged into Tarner Children’s Centre in Ivory Place. The Hollingbury and Patcham site could be merged into the Hollingdean centre in Brentwood Road. The West Hove centre could merge into Conway Cour t in Clarendon Road.
  • Baby groups which meet each week in Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk, Coldean, Woodingdean and Rottingdean libraries, and in the Meadowview Community Centre, could be axed. The libraries themselves are not under threat.
  • Early-years visitors, receptionists and service suppor t managers are under consultation and the equivalent of 11.5 full- time posts could be axed.
  • Funding to both voluntary groups the Early Childhood Project and the Brighton Unemployed Centre could be halved.
  • The City View and Cornerstone advisory groups could merge into one at the Tarner centre, and the Hollingbury and Patcham group could be combined with the one at Hollingdean.
  • The current 30 baby and toddler Stay and Play groups across the city could be slashed to 20.
  • Drop-in baby and toddler groups, which are open to everyone, could be time limited, with appointments introduced.
  • Parents with babies would only be able to attend an eight-week course and children under two may only be able to attend for a term.
  • Home visits will be cut back by a third and parents will be encouraged to travel to a centre for a check-up instead. In June last year, East Sussex County Council announced plans to reduce services at children’s centres in Eastbourne, Hastings and St Leonards. A final decision is yet to be made.

Case study 1: Mother leads calls to stop the cuts

MOTHER Leila Erin-Jenkins is leading the fight against the cuts.

With the help of fellow parents, the 29-year-old has set up the Brighton Parents Against Children’s Centre Cuts and Library Group Closures Facebook group and organised a public meeting this Friday.

She is urging people to sign a petition and complete the council survey as well as join a protest next month when a decision will be made on the future of the centres.

Hundreds of people have pledged their suppor t so far. She is fighting to protect the services for children like her sons River, who is two next month, and three-and-a-half- month-old Jesse.

She said: “They love attending the Moulsecoomb Library baby group which meets every Tuesday morning and that could close as par t of the proposals. Parents are really worried the council is considering cutting so many services. We have had to form this group to make our voices heard and let people know this
is a bad idea. We have to do something to stop it.

“The baby sessions in libraries are great. Our group leader George is brilliant. He will lose his job if these cuts go through. Children come to the sessions and pick up books, which is the great thing about being in a library environment.

“We would be devastated if the centres and the related groups such as these closed. River loves taking par t in all the activities and meeting other children. You can see how he develops each week. He is lucky to have been able to come to these groups but his baby brother won’t if the council closes them.”

Mrs Erin-Jenkins married husband Laurence last year. She said support from staff was crucial when she raised her eldest son Che, who is now eight.

She said: “He has autism and the help we got was just fantastic. The staff were brilliant and we were so lucky to have access to this suppor t. I had somewhere to go where I knew I could get the advice I needed.”
 

Case study 2: Closing groups would be a disaster

HANNAH READER thinks the plans to shut children’s centres are disastrous.

The 35-year-old mother from Bevendean, pictured right with son Beau, three, relies on services available at the Moulsecoomb Children’s Centre and the centre at Bevendean Primary School. 

Neither centre is at risk of closure but the group they attend each week at Moulsecoomb Library could be shut down as part of the council’s bid to make savings.

She said: “Merging centres and closing these groups is a terrible idea. Isolation is one of the key contributors to post natal depression. But these groups help you to socialise with other parents and there are so few places to go, especially fur ther out of the city centre. I moved here about a year ago and it helped us to get to know people.

“It gives children and parents somewhere to meet and being a single mother it gives you a chance to talk through parenting with others.

“It helps the children to develop and the group leaders are great role models.

“This is vitally important help for people and we really enjoy the groups.”

How you can help fight the cuts

  1. Complete the Brighton and Hove City Council survey by Monday, February 2, by clicking here
  2. Pledge your backing of the campaign. Join the Brighton Parents Against Children’s Centre Cuts and Library Group Closures Facebook group, which The Argus supports, by clicking here
  3. Sign the change.org petition ‘Stop the proposed cuts to children’s services’ by clicking here
  4. Attend the public meeting, organised by the city’s parents, this Friday at the Tarner Community Café, in Ivory Place, Brighton, from 9.30am to 11am. 
  5. Join parents in a peaceful protest on Thursday, February 26, ahead of Brighton and Hove City Council’s budget meeting at 4.30pm where the future of the children’s centres and related services will be determined. The meeting takes place in Brighton Town Hall, Bartholomew Square, Brighton.
  6. Contact senior reporter Flora Thompson at The Argus to express your views on 01273 544539 or email flora.thompson@theargus.co.uk.