Campaigners will continue fighting the closure of the county’s children’s centres, after it was announced this week the council is pushing forward with plans.

In January, the decision to replace the 35 centres with nine centralised hubs was halted as councillors ‘called in’ the proposals for discussion.

However Bucks County Council (BCC) announced this week it is now ploughing ahead with plans to implement its new Early Help service, after the call-in process was rejected last month.

Public meetings and talks will now take place with community groups and organisations about the future of the children’s centre buildings to ensure “maximum use for children, families or the local community”, according to BCC.

Campaigner, Alka Dass, said protesters will make sure their voices are heard throughout the consultation process, and urged the public to attend the meetings.

She added that she felt there needs to be more public meetings than those already organised, adding that she felt some areas in south Bucks had not been covered.

Mrs Dass said: “The newspaper should not be the only medium to use to announce these public meetings, cllr Whyte and the team should be visiting these 35 centres and ensuring that parents and families and staff are aware.

“There are also not enough public meetings. There and lots of areas not covered. Where is the South Bucks presence, Marlow.

“More public meetings are needed and I am glad that the campaign has had a positive outcome in applying pressure for the meetings to take place.”

 Bucks County Council confirmed there is no immediate change to the Early Help services including children’s centres, and it will be communicated when the changes take place.

Cabinet member for children’s services, Warren Whyte, said: “We have always said that we will use the next six months to have these conversations and put proposals together.

“Each location is different and with such a large number of centres we won’t have solutions for every centre overnight.

“Therefore I’d ask the local community to be patient with us, come to us if they have any questions, send us their ideas via the website and work with us to find the right solution for each individual centre.

“We know change is unsettling but we also know that we need to do more to support children and families earlier, with a service that is flexible to meet their individual needs.” 

Public meetings will take place as follows:

  • Tuesday March 20, 7pm at High Wycombe Library -  Covering children’s centres in  Castlefield, Mapledean, Millbrook, Disraeli, Hamilton Road, Hampden Way, Wycombe East
  • Monday March 26, 7pm at County Hall, Aylesbury - Covering children’s centres in Waddesdon, Quarrendon, Bearbrook, Elmhurst, Oakfield and Bedgrove, Southcourt
  • Tuesday March 27, 7pm at Buckingham Library - Covering Buckingham Children’s Centre and Steeple Claydon

More meetings due to take place in April are being planned and will be publicised in the coming weeks.

Send ideas regarding the Early Help scheme to www.buckscc.gov.uk/earlyhelp