By Rebecca Curley (LDRS)
CLOSING children’s centres is a mistake as not all vulnerable people live in deprived areas, one opposition councillor has warned.
He was among a number of opposition councillors who spoke out against the cuts at Surrey County Council’s full council meeting on Tuesday.
Cllr Darby, a Residents’ Association and Independent group member from Elmbridge, said: “What I feel we are going to lose is that we are not looking at post-natal depression, isolation and abuse. These are areas not just affected by those living in areas of deprivation. These families will be abandoned.”
Under the changes approved by councillors at the meeting, the new Family Resilience model includes reducing the number of children centres from 58 to 21. Satellite centres and outreach work will run from family hubs in every borough and district.
Potters Gate Sure Start Centre in Farnham is one of those to be downgraded to a satellite centre, while Hale Children’s Centre will become the town’s principal ‘Family Centre’ - supporting families with children aged up to 11 years old, instead of up to five.
The move is expected to save £1 million for 2019/20. But councillors have hit back at the changes.
Cllr Chris Botten, Lib Dem leader from Tandridge, said: “We cannot support the closure of the children’s centres as currently proposed.
“The failure to have a satellite in south Tandridge, the closure of the Leatherhead centre, which serves the very deprived north Leatherhead population, indicates that the analysis of the current provision is either hurried or flawed. More work should have been done to configure the new proposals more sensitively, possibly with a phased roll out.”
Cllr Stephen Spence, Farnham Residents’ councillor for Farnham North, told the council chamber it was a “mistake” to be closing them.
He said: “These children centres to me are very important and essential.”
Cllr Chris Townsend, Residents’ Association and Independent group member from Mole Valley, said: “Closing such a large number is indeed radical. We are also going to have a lot of empty buildings.”
Cllr Andy MacLeod, Farnham Residents’ councillor for Farnham Central, said: “Staff in the centres are not convinced. We haven’t won over the staff with this strategy.”
But Conservative councillors defended the cuts saying there was no alternative.
Cllr Mary Lewis, cabinet member for children and families, said it had already proved a success in other authorities, and the most vulnerable children and families were not using the centres so they needed to adapt social work to take the support out to the communities.