Centre parents take councils to court

It is the first time that councils have been taken to a judicial review by parents over cuts to Sure Start children's centres.

Solicitors acting on behalf of parents whose children attend the children's centres claim that both council's consultations have been unlawful and that plans to cut children's centres breach aspects of the Childcare Act 2006.

Richard Stein and Rosa Curling of Leigh Day & Co, who are representing the parents' groups in both cases, said, 'Local authorities have a clear duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to consult with parents and other stakeholders about their changes to children's centres. These consultations must comply with longstanding principles. Unfortunately, neither Hampshire nor Hammersmith and Fulham complied with their legal duties, and we have been forced to bring these actions on behalf of our clients.'

In March, parents threatened Hampshire council with legal action after the council made a decision to merge up to 28 of the council's 81 children's centres and bring in third party organisations to take over running the rest, before the consultation period ended (News, 30 March 2011).

Hampshire County Council's consultation was scheduled to close on 15 April, but solicitors say that on 24 February the council decided to cut £6m from the Sure Start budget and transfer the running of local authority managed centres to other providers.

A council spokesperson said, 'Hampshire County Council has been served with an application for judicial review. We will be resisting this and we remain confident as to our position.'

The council has revised its plans for the reorganisation of the children's centres in light of the 1,200 responses it received during the consultation (see story below).But Leigh Day & Co say that the changes are superficial and will not significantly affect their case.

The solicitors also claim that Hammersmith and Fulham's consultation is unlawful because the council appears to have decided to proceed with its proposals to cut funding for children's centres by £1.7m before the end of it.

Leah Day & Co say that the local authority's equality impact assessment was also unlawful and just a 'box-ticking' exercise. 'Every proposal had a positive equality impact despite the significant reduction in funding.'

Under the proposals, announced by the council in February, six Sure Start centres will be turned into 'hubs' and have their funding cut by £455,000 to £336,000 a year. A further ten children's centres will become 'spoke' centres and have their funding cut to £190,000 a year (News, 13 January 2011).

A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham Council said, 'We are vigorously contesting all points raised, but it will be some time before a decision is made as to whether there is a case for us to answer.'

The local authorities now have 21 days from when the case was filed in court to lodge their response. The matter will then go before a judge, who will decide if there is an 'arguable case' to go to court.