Nottingham City Council names five children's centres facing closure

Bulwell Children's Centre is one of five children's centres earmarked for closure in Nottingham

Nottingham City Council has named the five children's centres it is proposing to close as part of plans to save £28m.

Two centres in Aspley and three more in Bilborough, Bulwell and Sneinton face closure if another provider is not found.

Community leaders have voiced concerns that the closures are in deprived areas of the city.

The authority said it was aiming to protect as much of its service provision as possible.

Nottingham City Council said the proposals could change as a result of a consultation

Nottingham has 17 children's centres - including eight run by schools, which are not affected by the proposals.

The centres provide services including midwifery, antenatal and post-natal clinics as well as support for parents of children with disabilities.

Earlier plans had earmarked six of its nine children's centres for closure but this has been reduced to five.

A consultation on the new proposals will run until 22 April.

Hyacinth Francis-Watson, project manager of the charity The Chayah Project, which works with children's centres in Sneinton and Bilborough, shared her concerns about possible closures in November, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"There will be more dysfunctional families, more crime, and social care will have to step up," she said.

"Where will these parents go when they are in need? Where is their safe place? The people who use the centres are the most deprived."

The council said it was facing a rise in demand for adult social care, a reduction in grants and the unmet costs of Covid spending

The Labour-run authority said the remaining centres would offer "the greatest level of service provision with a focus on areas of high need" and would ensure "a high level of the city population can access a centre within 30 minutes via public transport".

The proposals would introduce a new citywide early help offer through support out in the community, including face-to-face sessions delivered both within the remaining children's centres and also in venues across the city.

Cheryl Barnard, portfolio holder for children and young people, said: "We have received positive feedback from providers and schools about their willingness to take on and run some of the centres proposed for closure.

"We are keen to talk to any partner organisations that would like to run a children's centre in our place - or to take on centres that we propose to retain, as this would enable us to keep a different centre open.

"It's important to remember that these plans remain proposals and not decisions."

The council, which needs to save £28m for 2022/23, said it was facing a rise in demand for adult social care, a reduction in grants and the unmet costs of Covid spending.