Torbay children's services face £1.4m cut

The English Riviera, or Torbay, faces cuts in tourism spending

Spending on children's services in Torbay could be cut by £1.4m in council budget savings of £10m next year.

Cuts could also include £1.5m on services such as roads, libraries and museums, but adult social care could rise by £800,000.

Torbay's Conservative Mayor Gordon Oliver is planning to cut £85,000 from the council-owned tourism board, the English Riviera Tourism Company (ERTC).

Mr Oliver also wants to freeze council tax for the third year running.

Parents at a Brixham nursery have been given until mid May to put together a plan to take it over after a decision was taken to close it in August due to falling numbers.

Parent Kate Richards said closure would force parents to give up work.

She said: "I hope the mayor will see that if it closes he is closing Brixham to young working families."

Councillor Chris Lewis, the authority's Children's Champion with responsibility for children's services, said Chestnut had been losing £40,000 a year.

He said: "That money could be used elsewhere for our most vulnerable children or others."

A decision on the proposed £127m budget is due to be taken by the Conservative-controlled council on 13 February.

Mr Oliver said: "We simply cannot sustain the yearly level of cut that central government requires without cutting services."

He has already backed down on earlier proposals to cut £30,000 from the Citizens Advice Bureau.