Norfolk children's centre closures: Protesters lobby council

Norfolk County Council has recommended shutting 46 out of 53 centres

People unhappy at plans to close most of Norfolk's children's centres have been protesting outside County Hall in Norwich.

Conservative-run Norfolk County Council has recommended shutting 46 out of 53 centres when their contracts end in September 2019.

The remaining seven, one in each district in Norfolk, will serve as "hubs" providing outreach services.

The Labour Party says the plans have not been thought through properly.

Children's centres were opened under the Sure Start name by the last Labour government, primarily for relatively-disadvantaged families with pre-school children.

'Passionate' protesters

Councillor Mike Smith-Clare, from the Labour group, said: "People are passionate about this, they don't want to see centres closed.

"They know cuts are going to affect, not just children but future communities... they are angry and they have every right to be."

The Labour Party says the plans have not been thought through properly

The protesters gathered outside the council offices ahead of a full council meeting where a report from last month's children's services committee is due to be presented.

In February, the authority announced the children's centre budget for 2019 had been cut from £10m to £5m.

New model

At present about 23,000 under-fives use the centres annually.

The council, which has begun a consultation about the proposals, said it wanted to create a more consistent service that met the needs of families.

Conservative Stuart Dark, chairman of the council's children's services committee, said people had a right to be passionate, but should inform themselves about the proposals.

"We think there is a way of moving the old contracts in Norfolk to a new model that actually looks at providing a good service to people not only accessing the service now, but match the families that are going to be coming into the system in the future," he said.

The consultation results will be discussed by children's services committee in January 2019 with a decision agreed by full council in February or March.