COUNCILLORS last night gave the green light to controversial children’s centres cuts following a six-hour investigation.
A special Kirklees Council panel gave the go-ahead to slash spending on the 32 Sure Starts in the district by £725,000 in 2012-13.
Councillors backed the decision taken last month by the Labour Cabinet – despite objections from parents and trade unionists.
About 30 people attended the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel at Huddersfield Town Hall yesterday.
The meeting was called after six opposition councillors demanded a special probe into the proposed spending cut.
The Labour Cabinet agreed last month to cut £725,000 from the Sure Start budget in 2012/13.
This is on top of £630,000 of savings in 2011/12.
Kirklees had been due to spend £22.8m on its children’s centres from 2011 to 2013.
All 32 children’s centres will remain open, but the exact details of services to be offered at each has yet to be decided.
The plan groups neighbouring Sure Starts together – but doesn’t outline which centres will keep their managers and which will not.
Clr Rochelle Parchment, who led the demand for the special investigation, spoke for the objectors at yesterday’s meeting.
The Dalton Lib Dem accused the Labour Cabinet of keeping details of the cuts secret.
She said: “There has been a failure to disclose sufficient information that would enable the public to understand the proposed changes.
“The proposal does not spell out the impact on children and families who use these centres.
“What services will be offered from which centres?
“We have asked which centres will have managers and we’ve been told this hasn’t been decided.”
Trade unionist Mike Forster spoke against the cuts at yesterday’s meeting. Kirklees Unison’s chief steward for education alleged that children’s centre managers were intimidating staff.
He said: “There has been a climate of fear in the children’s centres and our members have felt intimidated about speaking out.
“There has been an email to staff telling them not to answer questions from parents and avoid being captured in photographs.
“This is very restrictive and unhelpful.”
Cabinet members and senior officers present at the meeting did not contest Mr Forster’s allegations.
Joanne Smithson also spoke against the changes at yesterday’s meeting, saying it was unclear which services would be offered at which centres.
The mother said: “Some councillors have been led to believe that some of the courses are irrelevant or a luxury, this is simply not true.
“Baby massage courses need to remain universal because they benefit mother and child. The classes help bonding.
“The healthy eating and lifestyle courses also benefit everyone. The courses give people from different backgrounds the chance to interact with each other and they give staff the chance to pick up on problems that the health visitor has missed.”
Cabinet member for young people Clr Cath Harris told the meeting that the spending cuts had been agreed in principle by the ruling Labour group, the opposition Conservatives and Lib Dems.
The Ashbrow Labour councillor said:“In December 2010 the three main parties agreed that Sure Start savings should be made.”
Clr Harris added: “We’re doing everything in our power to keep all children’s centres open. We’re very clearly saying that we want to keep all the frontline service there.”
Fellow Cabinet member Dalton Labour councillor Peter McBride blamed the Conservatives and Lib Dems for the spending cuts.
He said: “The coalition Government reduced the amount of money available and no longer provide a ring-fenced grant.
“Kirklees has been given a 25% cut. In that context the range of services can not be as generous as it was previously.”
Clr McBride criticised the four Lib Dems, one Green and one independent who had forced yesterday’s investigation into the cut.
He said: “This has much to do with the time of year – it’s election time.
Panel chairman Clr Cahal Burke interrupted Clr McBride and asked him for “no party political broadcasts, please”.
The panel of five councillors and three lay members spent 90 minutes considering the matter.
The group decided not to send the proposed cut back to Cabinet for reconsideration.
Clr Burke said: “We’re satisfied the decision was made in accordance with the council’s principles we’re therefore freeing it up for implementation.”
However, the panel told the Cabinet to inform staff and parents about the impact of the changes.
Clr Parchment said afterwards that the panel’s decision had been “fair” but added that she would like to have more information about the proposal.
