Parents call on council to keep Britwell children's centre open

Parents say it will be ‘heartbreaking’ if Slough Borough Council closes a much-loved children’s centre as they fight to keep it open.

The authority is considering closing Britwell children’s centre and six others in a bid to save £410,000.

Local authority bosses are also thinking about moving to a family hub model instead that focuses on improving targeted help for children aged between 0 and 19.

A public consultation on the proposal, and two other options, is set to end today (Friday).

Britwell resident Julie Siddiqi organised a meeting with council officers and users of the centre in Monksfield Way on Wednesday for parents to fully air their views on the proposals.

Mrs Siddiqi said there is ‘general despair’ among the users because it felt that the closure is a ‘done deal’ as a proposal to keep the Britwell centre is not included in the three options.

Parents Stuart and Charlotte Mincher said their children wouldn’t get the support they needed if it wasn’t for the Britwell centre staff.

Charlotte, who travels via bus from Slough Town Centre to Britwell, said: “To hear that the centre is not part of any of the options is heartbreaking and where are we going to go? It’s almost like a family here, if I may be so bold to say, because you don’t get support like this from the head team at a private nursery.”

She added: “Both my kids loved this centre and they are completely different children from start to finish. It’s a shame that when my kids grow up, this centre isn’t going to be around for them.”

Ten children’s centres were opened in 2004 across Slough to deal with the demand and needs of those areas at that time. However, council officers have said, due to changing demographics, evidence is showing that the family hub model is more favourable.

They also said the centre’s usage and that there’s a surplus of 700 placements in Britwell and Haymill were some of the reasons why they were thinking about closing it.

However, the decision is ‘not set in stone’ and it will consider suggestions made to keep the centre open but run by the community.

A packed room of centre users also raised concerns on how people who rely on public transport will be able to access the other centres, adding the local bus services are ‘unreliable’ and ‘expensive’. Officers have said that is something they are looking into to mitigate that potential impact.

There was also distaste that Britwell councillors didn’t show up to listen to the user’s views on the proposals.

Cllr Martin Carter (Lab, Britwell & Northborough) said: “I personally think this is a great centre, however, we have to make sure we are covering all of the basis for all of the children in the local area.

“We need to make that local provision be excellent. That’s part of the job that we’re demanded to do.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Christine Hulme (Lab, Central), lead member for children’s services, said Slough needs to change and improve its services because there’s a huge increase in children going into statutory services, resulting in pressures on the council’s budget.

She said: “The feedback I get at the centre I go to is the same; they really value what the staff are doing and it’s really important, but it doesn’t address the cohort of children we need to address and we have to reach out for that broader age group and have to have a better offer for all our kids in Slough.”

A final decision on the children’s centres’ future will be determined after May’s all-out elections.