Children’s centres will not be closed

Members of Central Bedfordshire Council’s executive committee voted to rearrange the centres into nine clusters at a meeting on Tuesday (January 10).

The move will see the seven current centres being consolidated into four cluster hubs based at Laburnum Lower School in Sandy, The Lawns Nursery School in Biggleswade, Shefford Lower School and St Mary’s Lower School in Stotfold.

Out of three ideas, councillors voted for option one rather than the more contentious options two or three.

Option two would have seen the Flying Start Children’s Centre in Henlow and the Red Bear Children’s Centre in Stotfold closing down, while option three would have seen all of the centres shutting apart from Sandy.

The vote followed a public consultation period where users of the centres were asked for their views and preferences. But while those behind the campaign are pleased that there will be no closures there are fears about the quality of provision at the centres.

Potton Town Councillor Andy Hopkins – who presented a petition containing more than 300 signatures to the committee and appealed to councillors not to close the centres – believes underprivileged familes may suffer.

He said: “While none of the centres will actually be closing, centres that serve communities in more deprived areas will have their facilities and resources reduced.

“Arlesey, for example is recognised as being more deprived than Stotfold, and yet the hub in that area will be in Stotfold, meaning that families in Arlesey will be disadvantaged.”

Councillor Satinderjit Dhaliwal from Stotfold Town Council who has also supported the campaign said: “The council has opted for a hub and spoke arrangement, which may help to reduce costs but will not help parents and children.

“Families in Arlesey, for example will now have to pay to travel to Stotfold to use the children’s centre there, which could a problem for a lot of people who may be less well-off.”