According to figures obtained by Southwark Liberal Democrats through a freedom of information request, a total of £542,324 has been spent on agency workers for four council-run children’s centres since April 2011. This amounts to an average monthly cost of £32,000.
Southwark's Labour-run council announced in March its plans to gradually withdraw childcare provision at South Bermondsey Children and Parents Centre and Bishops House Children’s Centre over the next two years.
The council said the decision to close the nurseries in September 2014 was due to cuts to the council's budget of £90 million.
A temporary stay of execution has now been given to South Bermondsey Children and Parents Centre following a campaign by parents to keep the setting open. It comes after an announcement made by the council last month to carry out a review into the viability of all four of their children’s centre nurseries, looking at ways to continue to run the settings as opposed to closing them.
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