Residents may have say on children’s centre services as part of Derbyshire County Council review

A report going to the council’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (6th May) will propose a review is carried out to look at possible ways of effectively delivering essential services for children and families while making a saving of £1.1m.

The authority first opened a children’s centre in the county 14 years ago and currently runs 54 centres at a cost of £8 million a year.

They offer a variety of services which includes early education and childcare, health services, and parenting and family support.

If any centres are earmarked for possible closure a further three-month consultation would take place before a recommendation was made to Cabinet.

Coun Kevin Gillott, Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “We are faced with making devastating cuts to our services which we don’t want to make.

“We’re doing our best to protect services and jobs but the reality is that the huge reduction in our budget – which equates to cutting our spending on Derbyshire families by a third – means there’ll be a significant and detrimental impact on local people.

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“At a time when so many families are struggling the last thing we want to do is reduce what our children’s centre offer but we’re having to consider all our options and it’s a very sad situation.”