The Council continues to face two enormous pressures on its budgets. The biggest pressure comes entirely from the rise in the number of vulnerable people who require the Council’s support. At the same time, we have to operate in a wider environment where the Government is working to restore responsibility to the nation’s public finances. In order to meet these challenges, the Council must make radical changes to almost all its services.

I accept that this is unpopular, but as politicians, those are the necessary decisions that we have a responsibility to take. That is why at next week’s Cabinet we will be considering significant changes to how we provide support to parents and young children through Children’s Centres, which may involve closing some.

Let me be clear that our first priority is to ensure that we protect children and give them the best possible start in life. However, this is less effective if we are putting large amounts of that money into buildings. We have consistently followed a policy of directing support to children most at need and that is what the reforms Cabinet will consider will do.

These proposals would focus the Children’s Centres on those parts of the Borough where the need is greatest. We are returning Children’s Centres to their original purpose, which is to help those most in need rather than providing a wider range of subsidised services for everyone, regardless of their circumstances or need. This was always meant to be a targeted rather than a universal service.

In addition, the Coalition Government has provided more money to recruit additional health visitors, who see children and parents in their own homes. These visits allow for a greater understanding of each child’s needs and allow us to allocate the dedicated support, where needed, much earlier.

We would also allocate £194,000 over two years to support family outreach work in areas that, because of their location, are slightly less able to get to alternatives – such as East Wichel, Eldene, and Highworth. We are proposing this funding as a direct result of the concerns raised during the consultation with conducted with the centre users and residents.

Where we might no longer use buildings as Children’s Centres, we would look to other groups that provide services for children to take them over. Some groups may also seek to set themselves up as new voluntary or business ventures. In two cases, we wish to use a German alternative called multi-generational centres that will support families in a wider context.

I appreciate that this is a controversial proposal, but we cannot ignore or deny the challenges that the Borough faces.