Derbyshire considers revised children's centre plans

In April, the authority outlined plans to close seven of its 54 centres in a bid to save £1.1m but the council has confirmed it has scrapped the proposal following a five-week public consultation.

Instead, it wants to close just two centres – Ashbourne and Duffield - and reduce the opening hours of a further 10 from five days to two days a week. The aim is to save £944,000 from council’s £8m children’s centres budget.

Under the revised plans, the council will also close the Castle Gresley and Langwith centres but their services will be transferred to other sites.

Commenting on the proposals, councillor Kevin Gillott, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “We don’t want to make cuts to our services but the huge reduction in our budget equates to cutting our spending on Derbyshire families by a third.

“We’ve tried our hardest to minimise the impact of these cuts we’re having to make so we can keep essential services available for children, families and communities.”

A spokesman for Unison, who has asked not to be named, said the union is disappointed that the council wants to close any centres at all but blames central government, not Derbyshire County Council.

He said: “We are devastated at the news.

“We want to ensure that services continue in Derbyshire and that centres don’t close but we understand that the council is having to make these cuts.

“You can’t survive or keep services running on shoestrings or the hope that money is going to come in by a miracle. We blame central government directly.”

A report detailing the new proposals will go before the council’s cabinet on Tuesday, when the committee will be asked to approve a three-month public consultation on the plans.

If approved, the consultation will begin on 8 October.