THE FUTURE of children centre’s in Malvern and across the county remains unclear after Worcestershire County Council chiefs said no final decision would be made until later in the Spring.
The Observer reported in January the future of more than 30 children centres were under review by the county council with the authority set to launch its new ‘Starting Well’ prevention service to support families of children aged 0-19 later this year.
As part of the commisionning process, council chiefs encouraged parents to take part in a consultation as it considered the future use of children centre buildings across the county. The consultation attracted more than 2,000 responses.
A handful of centres under review in the Malvern area included Evergreen Children’s Centre on Worcester Road, Sunshine Children’s Centre in Pickersleigh, Riverboats Children’s Centre and Teme Valley Children’s Centre.
But with the consultation over, council chiefs said all 32 centres under review would now be included in the tender for ‘potential’ use by the Starting Well service.
However, the authority said in a statement children centre’s were just one of many community buildings (including libraries, health centres or community centres) being used for the service – meaning no final decision has yet been made over which ones will be used.
Coun Marcus Hart, responsible for health and well-being at Worcestershire County Council, said: “Feedback from the Children’s Centre building consultation has given us lots of good ideas about how these buildings can be used to better support families and communities.
“Before we act on these, we need to agree on how we are going to prioritise these ideas, as well as giving the option to the Starting Well service to use them either exclusively or shared with another provider.
“Once we understand what all of the options are, we will consult with residents if we propose to change the use of any of the buildings. No decisions will be made until we have carried out this consultation.”
The county council said it willl have a more clearer idea of what children’s centres will be used or not for the service in early May.
But Daniel Walton, Labour Party chairman for West Worcestershire said he was concerned for parents and carers.
“There are still children centres in Worcestershire which are massively uncertain and that is very worrying,” he said.
“There are a lot of parents and carers who will be worried. It’s very anxious times for them at the moment.”
The ‘Staring Well’ service is set to start in October.
