PLANS to close five of the city’s twelve children’s centres have taken a step forward after councillors agreed they should be put to the public for consultation.

Brighton and Hove City Council is trying to save more than a third of the service’s £2.39 million budget, but its plans were slammed as “short-sighted” at a council meeting last night (Monday).

Councillors at the Children, Young People and Skills Committee agreed to open a public consultation on the centres, which serve the city's 15,000 under-fives.

Under the proposals, seven children’s centres will continue as they are while five will merge and open only as temporary children’s centres when services are running there.

Those five are The Deans in Rudyard Kipling primary school, West Hove in West Hove infant school, Hollingbury and Patcham in Carden primary school and City View.

And The Cornerstone Community Centre in Hove’s Church Road will continue with baby and pre-school groups but will no longer operate as a children’s centre with parents and children being asked to relocate to the Tarner Community Centre almost two miles away in Ivory Place, Brighton.

The Labour administration has defended its plans as making the best of a difficult funding situation, insisting there will still be services for children across the city.

Labour Party councillor Jackie O’Quinn, Goldsmid Ward, said the administration was “committed to the mental, social and physical development of children” and recognised the importance of early years’ education in assuring this.

She added: “But we are under very difficult financial pressures so we regret that there has to be cuts in this area, but my own feeling is that enormous care has been taken not to affect the most disadvantaged children.”

Green Party councillor Alex Phillips, Regency Ward, voted against the current plans going out for consultation.

She said: “I think it is really short-sighted and they are not the same as cuts elsewhere because they affect people right at the start of their lives.

“I think we should be looking at other budget areas to fund this really vital service.”

Conservative councillor Vanessa Brown, Hove Park ward, said there were “enormous concerns" that the plans might lead more families to access social services, or not have their needs identified.

But she said councillors needed to be “realistic”, adding: “We do agree that we should go out for consultation on these issues and we look forward to hearing the results.”