Public consultation on children's centres

Proposals for mergers include £230,000 children's centre in Tadley, scheduled to open after Easter.

HAMPSHIRE County Council has claimed that the future of two North Hampshire children centres will not be threatened if they are to be combined as part of a cost-cutting measure.

After the county council is to suffer swingeing Government cuts to the tune of £55m earlier in the new (2011-12) financial year, it decided to slash its childrens services budget by £18m and merge several children's centres to make savings.

The county currently has 81 children's centres in total and is consulting the public over proposals to merge six of these into three, including two to be merged in North Hampshire: a £230,000 Home Tree children's centre which is scheduled to open at Tadley Community Centre, Newchurch Road, after Easter, and the existing Badgers children's centre at Bishops Green Village Hall. Both centres would jointly serve the families of 1,689 under fives in both areas.

In a statement, the council's executive lead member for children's services, Roy Perry (Con Romsey Extra) said there appeared to have been a “misunderstanding” that a large number of centres were to close.

“In the vast majority of cases, these will be mergers of management and services and will not involve the closure of sites or buildings,” he said, adding that families would see “little change” to the way they accessed services through the centres.

It was essential, he added, that families had sufficient time to contribute their views, which is why a public consultation period over the proposals was extended to mid-April.

The county council has confirmed further that should the proposals get the go-ahead, the mergers would be achieved by combining and streamlining the centres' management structures.

On timescales for any changes, new contracts would not be in place until January 2012, when any new service provider would determine what and where activities would be based.

He said both buildings would be “available for use” and outreach work through village halls was unlikely to change.

The consultation document can be completed online at www.hants.gov.uk/2011-consultation until Friday, April 15.

Alternatively, you can complete a response form, available at any children's centre, or telephone (01962) 847651.