Devon children's centres face closure threat

A consultation has been launched over a raft of measures to cut children’s centre services costs by 15 per cent over the next three years.

Options include reducing the number of centres and focusing sites on the county’s most deprived areas.

This would see children’s centres reorganised into eight areas aligned by district and city council boundaries, which would also reduce management and administration costs.

The council currently owns 34 centres and runs children’s centre services in a further 13 other community buildings. The exact number of potential closures has not yet been considered.

As part of the proposals the council is also considering providing more children’s centre services in other council buildings and community venues, as well as through home visits.

A reduction in opening times and the range of services available at centres is also being looked at as well as inviting other organisations to use centres to provide community services.

The move coincides with the current children’s centre contracts in Devon coming to an end. There are six different organisations currently running centre services including Action for Children, Barnardo's and the Children’s Society. 

James McInnes, Devon Council's cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “We remain fully committed to delivering high-quality, multi-agency services for children under five, and particularly to those families in greatest need.

“But given the current financial situation things simply can’t stay the same and we have to think again about the best way to provide this support to families for less money. Clearly some efficiencies can be made in the way we contract for these services.”

The consultation closes on 6 June and a final recommendation on the future of the children’s centre services will be considered by Devon’s cabinet on 9 July.