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Two-thirds of Pen Green staff could have jobs cut

The renowned Pen Green Centre for Children and Families is facing cuts of more than 1m over the next three years under proposals put forward by the Northamptonshire Schools Forum.

The proposed cuts, which at £350,000 a year amount to more than 50 per cent of the Corby setting's core budget, mean that 51 groups for children and families will be cut, along with all after-school provision, year-round services for the youngest children in the nursery, and family support services.

More than 1,000 people attended a protest against the cuts in Corby on Friday.

The proposals, which Pen Green says would lead to two-thirds of its staff losing their jobs, were announced by the Schools Forum on 18 January.

Heather Donoyou, head of the Pen Green Centre, said, 'It is important to know that the budget being cut is not the children's centre budget that comes direct from Government - it is the social services part of our budget which we have had since the centre first opened. When we became a school, the local authority promised us that this budget would be sustained, and now they are threatening to take away 56 per cent of our funding, which will have huge implications on what we can offer to local people.'

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