2m cuts 'will destroy local provision'

The local authority says it wants to 'redirect' funding to the most disadvantaged children and has said that settings will only continue to receive money from the Early Intervention Grant if they provide for the wider needs of families and children.

According to the council, under the new funding model, multi-agency support teams will liaise directly with families, who will be able to choose the support they need, and the money 'will follow the child'. The council claims that this will give families targeted support from a provider that best meets each family's needs.

However, Chrissie Meleady of the Community Childcare Group, which represents seven community-run nurseries in Sheffield, said that the cuts will destroy high-quality local provision that has been helping families in the city for decades.

She said, 'The council is trying to push through changes which will mean funding for children in need will only be given to Phase 1 children's centres, and not to community nurseries, and it is trying to side-step the consultation process.

'They have not done any impact assessments on how this will affect families. The council has not invested in these community nurseries because it has always prioritised its own Sure Start children's centres. Now it wants to cut £2m from their funding.'

Professor Pat Broadhead of Leeds Metropolitan University said, 'The cuts made by central Government are forcing people apart that should be working together. It's a policy of divide and rule, and I believe it is all part of the Government's agenda.

'The council is under constraint and its first thought will be to protect its own services. The consequence of that will be the closure of services that have been serving the community for many years.'

She added, 'Many of the Sure Start children's centres do not serve the communities as well as these well-established community nurseries that are used to functioning on tiny budgets and that are there because they have the will to help the community. It's really going to decimate these services, and once they are gone it will be impossible to get them back. The Government needs to understand the implications of what it is doing.'

Councillor Colin Ross, Sheffield City Council's cabinet member for Children and Young People's Services, said, 'We have less money than we previously had, so we need to be certain we are spending it in the right area and that funding follows the child and meets their and their family's needs. It is also about getting better value for money.'

Following local opposition to the proposals, councillors have agreed to look again at the plans and present alternatives by the end of January.

Wakefield neighbourhood nurseries at risk

Five neighbourhood nurseries in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, could be transferred to private and voluntary sector providers under plans agreed by the council at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (18 January).

The council used capital and revenue funding from the then Department for Education and Skills to set up 14 neighbourhood nurseries across the district - seven run by the private and voluntary sector and the remaining seven by the Council itself - with the aim that they would become fully sustainable once the funding ended.

A statement from Wakefield council said that the nurseries had never achieved sustainability due to high staffing costs and small numbers of children attending.