Council unveils plans to close five children's centres

Brighton and Hove City Council has said seven of the local authority's 12 children's centres will remain open.

Reduced "outreach" services will be provided at the remaining five locations as part of plans to save £846,000 from the 2016/17 children's centres budget, a report on the proposals reveals.

In order to mitigate for the changes the council has said it will develop a city-wide "online children's centre" providing access to information and advice on services for families across the city.

The council also wants to offer more parenting talks and discussion groups to reach more parents at an earlier stage.

Tom Bewick, chair of the council's children, young people and skills committee, said: "The review makes clear that it will not be possible to provide the same level of services with the reduction in funding to the children's centre budget.
 
"We need to deliver budget savings while making sure resources are targeted at the children and families who need them most.
 
"This means making difficult decisions about services that I know families value.   
 
"I would encourage everyone to respond to the consultation so that the committee can take account of people's views when we make decisions about the future of children's centres in January."

A consultation on the proposals is planned to start on 17 November.

Last week Derby Council announced proposals for schools to take over the running of seven of its 17 children's centres.