Hackney parents have launched a campaign against the proposed closure and restructuring of four of the borough’s children’s centres by the council in a bid to make £4m in savings within the next three years.
Hackney Council has put plans out for consultation to close its settings at Fernbank and Sebright Children’s Centres. It has also proposed to change the nursery at Hillside Children’s Centre into an early years Additional Resource Provision (APR) – a specialist setting for children with SEN - as well as limit places at the Oldhill Children’s Centre nursery to children aged six months to three years old.
According to the consultation, which closes on 25 April, alternative providers would be invited to take over the running of Fernbank and Sebright Children’s Centres. However, if an alternative provider is not found by this Autumn, the two centres will close next August.
Parents and carers have launched a campaign calling on Mayor Caroline Woodley to halt the closures and to commit to safeguarding affordable childcare places and children’s centres for the future. They staged a protest against the proposals outside Sebright Children’s Centre in Haggerston at the beginning of the week.
