Although Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in the UK, is embarking on a controversial £300m programme of spending cuts, it plans to retain all 75 of its children's centres (News, 2 June).
The scale of the cuts being imposed is equivalent to saving £300,000 every working day for four years, according to the leader of the council, Mike Whitby.
About £10m is being cut this year from the budget for the city's Sure Start children's centres in a programme of re-organisation which will see managerial posts axed, efficiency savings and a reconfiguration of Birmingham's 13 community day nurseries.
Key elements in the re-shaping of council services described in the authority's business plan for 2011 will be early intervention, prevention and collaborative working with other public agencies. These principles will apply particularly to the future provision of children's services.
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