Closure threat for 20 Shropshire children's centres

Shropshire Council plans to save £875,000 by reducing the services from 26 different buildings to six in a ‘new delivery model’ for Early Help services.

There will be a small number of compulsory redundancies if the plan goes ahead, along with voluntary redundancies, council officials said today.

The centres facing closure are those based at:

• Buttercup and Honeysuckle lodges in Shrewsbury

• Meole Brace Primary in Shrewsbury

• Mereside Primary in Shrewsbury

• Sunflower House in Shrewsbury

• Stokesay Primary in Craven Arms

• Shrewsbury Road in Church Stretton

• Crowgate in Bishops Castle

• St Mary's in Bridgnorth.

• Ellesmere Primary

• Market Drayton’s Longlands

• Market Drayton Infants

• St Peter's in Wem

• Baschurch Village Hall

• Morda Primary

• Oswestry’s Woodside Primary

• Albrighton Primary

• St Andrew’s in Shifnal

• St Mary’s in Bridgnorth

• Severn Centre in Highley

• Ellesmere Primary

The Early Help Family Hubs proposed to be retained are at Richmond House in Shrewsbury, Crowmoor in Shrewsbury, The Centre in Oswestry, Rockspring Community Centre in Ludlow and one in Whitchurch and one in Bridgnorth at locations yet to be identified.

The services are intended to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for all children under five and their families. They include coffee mornings to drop-in sessions and social events.

Now the plan aims to support a wider range of children and young people up to the age of 19, and up to 25 for children with disabilities or a special educational need.

The initial idea went out to consultation in February.

Karen Bradshaw, director of children’s services at the council, said that the six buildings will be ‘family hubs’ which will also act as children’s centres.

She said: “The consultation responses were positive about the integration into getting support in a single place. There were some concerns around the drop-in stay and play and parenting programmes.

“We want to focus the resources rather than focus on the number of buildings that aren’t used that much, now we won’t be paying the rent and running costs. It’s not that all of these services aren’t being delivered anymore, they’re being delivered in another way.

Impact

“Clearly there will be some impact on sessions as they will be reduced, but there ought to be ample access available. The majority of the centres will be transferred to the schools they are with or private providers will continue to use them. The council needs to balance its budget this year and in future years.”

Councillor Nick Bardsley, cabinet member for children’s services, said it is about spending less on buildings and more on “front-line services”.

“It makes no sense to spend a lot of money on buildings that are partially used,” he added. “This has been very carefully researched.

"This has been very carefully researched but I'm sure there are things that are going to need to change. Yes there will be job losses, but very few. We've been talking about this for nine months, but there will be a very small number of compulsory redundancies at the end of the day.

"Where we're working with individual families we will work with them in appropriate venues, whether it be in their home or a neutral environment. However hard we try, the numbers of children in care are going up and up, at the end of the day nobody wants children to go into care."

The report will go to cabinet next week, and if approved, the more specific plan will go out to consultation at the end of May.