FOLLOWING months of uncertainty, children’s centres will be shut in a bid to save money.

Hampshire County Council announced that in a bid to save £8.5m, 10 children’s centres in Hart and Rushmoor would be axed.

In Odiham, Wisteria will fall victim, while Little Saplings in Hartley Wintney will also be one of the unlucky few to be cut.

Wild Rose and Fleet Fireflies in Church Crookham’s children’s centre building will also be closed.

In the official report released alongside the final decision, the reason for all three not being retained was “low level of deprivation and limited space available making it unsuitable for future use.”

Keith Mans, the county’s executive lead member for children’s services, agreed to go ahead with the closures on Friday, July 1.

The closures come after the council decided to set up an integrated Family Support Service (FSS), which, by combining the work of children’s centres, early help hubs and youth support, will form a single service for the most vulnerable families.

Across the county there are currently 54 centres, and in order to reach the required £8.5 million in funds saved, the number will be slashed to just 11.

Other centres across the county to close include ones in Yateley, Frogmore, Farnborough and Aldershot.

Turner’s Wood in the Elvetham Heath estate in Fleet will remain as the district’s sole family support service hub, with Hart saying in their report that the centre “meets the accommodation requirements for the proposed future service. It has the highest footfall in the Hart district.”

The potential outreach for FSS delivery sites available within the community currently include Hook (four), Hartley Wintney (one) and Church Crookham (two), with Odiham not listed as a potential area.

For example, the report says that there are 12 total sites identified in the district with the average cost per hour at just £14.61 and there would potentially be an average cost per year for FSS services in Hart of just £9,993.24, with six bookings being taken each week across the 12 sites.

As well as a headache for parents in terms of finding alternative locations for their children, the centres closures could also see up to 145 redundancies across the county.

This was hinted at in the report in which the decision was published, which stated that the FSS model would have “significant human resource and staffing implications”.

The decision was not made without public consultation however, with the report highlighting that people responding to the consultation were asked if they had suggestions on alternative ways to make the savings.

The report stated that, “the most common comment was that the council should make saving elsewhere, with reductions to staffing, management, high salaries, expenses, wastage, bureaucracy and red tape all suggested.”

Over 2,000 families access the services affected by the closures, with the children’s centres throughout Hampshire providing advice on parenting, healthy lifestyles, employment and training.

As previously reported, the county council must make cuts to numerous services across the board, with another major service in the local libraries already hit.

The cuts may continue to come in the future as a funding shortfall of £98million must be met in the next nine months to April 2017, with £21.5 million of allocated savings to be met from the children’s services budget.

In the report, Keith Mans said: “In the face of on-going profound reductions in central government funding, we are determined to maintain essential services, particularly services for those with high levels of need.

“In order to do this we have to develop ways to do things differently.

“I have taken into account a number of factors, the response from our public consultation on the FSS proposals, changes in the way people are increasingly accessing information, advice and support services, the additional support now available within the community and the financial context within which the county council is operating.

“I am satisfied this new service will support those who are most in need of help but who do not meet the threshold for statutory social care, while ensuring comprehensive information and advice is provided for all.

“The Support Service will come in at a time when the number of health visitors in Hampshire has significantly increased, and when working parents will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare with a nursery, pre-school or registered early years education childminder.”