The ten staff are based in five child development centres across Lancashire which deliver an essential service of care, therapy and diagnosis for children under five with special needs. Lancashire County Council says the posts are being 'disestablished' to ensure it does not overspend its budget.
Local health services and hospital trusts fund the centres' premises and additional staff, such as physiotherapists and educational psychologists, while the council's social services is responsible for nursery officer posts.
The centres concerned are: The Willows in Preston, Stepping Stones in Ormskirk, Longlands in Lancaster, Broadoaks in Preston and Holly House in Blackburn.
The threat to this vital service comes as Government ministers pledged to tackle the shortages of services for disabled children at the launch of a policy review of Children and Young People. Speaking last week, children's commissioner Al Aynsley-Green said current provision 'was nothing short of a national scandal'.
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