Meeting over controversial Wakefield Council shake-up of children’s centres

Controversial plans to reduce the number of children’s in the district will be discussed at St Michael’s CE Academy, on Flanshaw Lane, Wakefield, from 6pm-7.30pm on Tuesday.

Another meeting will be held at the same time at Newlands Primary School, on Wakefield Road, on Thursday.

Cash-strapped Wakefield Council is proposing to centralise the district’s 23 children’s centres into six main sites and three ‘linked’ sites offering extra support in areas of high deprivation.

Parents who fear losing their children’s centres staged protests when the proposals were announced in July.

Wakefield Council, which is faced with £185m in budget cuts by 2020, said the plans would provide more effective support for the district’s most troubled families.

A public consultation on the shake-up will run until October 15.

An online survey has also been launched at [email protected]