The London borough is cutting its children’s centre budget by £1.2m, but following consultation with parents and children’s services staff, the authority has decided to keep all of its 16 centres open, but reduce some of their hours.
Under the proposed "hub and spoke" model, the council will keep four centres open throughout the day. These centres will then be designated a number of satellite centres which will open when certain classes and activities take place.
Services will only be commissioned if they have proven positive results for children in the hope that this will boost attainment levels of young children.
Councillor Mitzi Green, lead member for children’s services at Harrow Council, said: "We were determined to protect and develop the children’s centres for future generations. However, in order to do this in this difficult financial climate, we needed to come up with an innovative solution that would allow us to use centres more efficiently.
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