TWO children’s centres could be cut, as Hampshire County Council struggles to make huge savings.

The council is holding a public consultation about a new, slimmed-down family support service. Under the proposals, the number of designated children’s centres could drop from 54 to 11 across the county.

At risk are Wisteria in Odiham and Little Saplings in Hartley Wintney. If they are shut down, the premises could be made available for alternative use by the community.

Both centres are currently run by Action for Children, a charity dedicated to helping the young and vulnerable for over 145 years. In a measured response, it says it understands the difficulties faced by the county council in making savings.

And the charity issued a reassurance that it will continue to work closely with the authority. It intends to make sure any future model to emerge from the cuts, meets the needs of children and families as best it can.

Children’s centres have operated in Hampshire only since 2004. More than 2,000 families now have access to the service, which helps support a child’s development and readiness for school, as well as providing advice on parenting, healthy lifestyles, training and employment.

But the county council must meet a funding shortfall of £98million by the end of the financial year in April 2017.

In the consultation document, named Shaping Hampshire, the county council says it wants to develop a new support service for families with children:

“It is proposed that £8.5m of savings could be delivered by combining children’s centre services, early help hubs and the youth support services to form a single Family Support Service, working out of fewer buildings and with a streamlined management and operating structure.

“Current staffing levels – 300 employees – could be reduced by up to 60 percent. This would come into effect from early 2017”.

It adds that by cutting the number of designated buildings for children’s centre services, the council could save almost £1million a year additionally in running costs.

The operational director at Action for Children, Liz Rowe, said: “Our absolute priority is the well-being of the children and families we work with at our Wisteria and Little Saplings centres.

“We know that getting children and families help early can significantly improve life chances. It is clear to see how valued children’s centres are within their community, operating as vital hubs linking families with health, social care and other services.

“We understand the difficulties faced by local authorities when tasked with reducing costs so we will be continuing to work closely with Hampshire County Council to ensure any future model meets the needs of the children and families we support.

“We believe children’s centre services should and can retain a vital role in supporting children and families in communities and our Beyond the Building briefing series considers how centres can innovate and develop to meet current and future challenges.”

The proposed plans have not been met enthusiastically by locals however. One comment on Facebook said: “I am a centre worker in London and a new parent, so I have experience from both sides. The centre provides vital services for military families and we’ll miss it.”

The consultation period closes at noon on Tuesday May 3.