Westminster City Council is proposing to cut £90,000 from the Portman Early Childhood Centre, which has already had £100,000 cut from funding aimed at helping vulnerable children (News, 18 August).
A petition launched by Westminster Labour councillors warned that the cuts would do serious damage to disadvantaged children and their families.
Cambridgeshire services for children and vulnerable adults look set to be cut as the council seeks to save £161m over the next five years. Cambridgeshire County Council is planning to cut around 450 jobs, of which around 240 will come from children's services. The savings include £1m from disability services for children, £500,000 from specialist teaching and £600,000 from children's centres. John Reynolds, cabinet member for resources and performance, said, 'Cambridgeshire was already a lean authority and that has made for difficult decisions'.
Essex early years services face cuts of £829,000, including £317,000 from children's centre budgets. Southend council plans to axe two children's centre teachers and cut spending on training for childcare workers by £180,000. Around £221,000 is to be cut from services to support children with learning difficulties and disabilities.
Calderdale, North Yorkshire could see qualified teachers withdrawn from children's centres, under budget proposals to slash the amount spent on children and young people by about £10m over three years.
