Hampshire County Council has extended a consultation on plans to cut the number of its children's centres from 81 to 53 after the local authority was criticised for its handling of the issue.
Parents have been given another month to have their say on plans to merge and privatise the settings, after complaints from a parent campaign group and the Plain English Campaign, which fights for clear communication in the public sector, about the ‘bureaucratic’ language used in the consultation document.
Campaigners say that the public could be unclear on the meaning of the phrases used in the consultation document, and picked out examples such as ‘creating a cluster approach to management’, ‘seeking to deliver operational efficiencies’ and ‘managing centre clusters through third parties’, as terminology that could cause confusion.
Marie Clair, from the Plain English Campaign, said, ‘If people don’t understand the words, then quite frankly they will be confused, frustrated and suspicious of what is being proposed.'
In February Hampshire County Council approved proposals to cut the number of children's centres by a third (News, 2 March).
Campaigners have threatened legal action, saying that the extension to the consultation is pointless when the decision on cuts has already been agreed.
Ken Thornber, leader of Hampshire County Council, said that the one-month delay would cost taxpayers an extra £500,000.
Blackpool Council has launched a consultation over proposals to close two children’s centres in a bid to save £500,000.
David Lund, director for adults and children’s service at Blackpool Council urged parents to respond to the consultation, saying that the council was keen to make sure the needs of families would be met.
He added, ‘The proposal is to undertake a number of actions, which include reducing the number of outreach workers, consolidating management arrangements, reviewing key contracts and closing Layton and Highfield Children’s Centres.'
Meanwhile, Bradford Council has pledged to keep all 41 of its children’s centres open with a one per cent cut in funding.
