Liberal Democrats in Warwickshire committed to family support

Ahead of a meeting of Warwickshire County Council on 29 November 2017 to look at funding for Warwickshire's under-threat children's centres, Liberal Democrats Group Leader, Councillor Jerry Roodhouse, has tabled an amendment seeking more family support.

Under the proposals the county's 39 children's centres would be reduced to just 14 children and family centres. The plans, which have been met with fierce opposition from Councillors and residents, are scheduled to come in by October 2019.

Proposed Amendments

(1) Add the following words after 'life' at the end of the first sentence:

'recognising that further development is necessary to build an effective service for the long term.'

(2) Delete in the second sentence the words after 'agrees to' and include the words:

'use £1.12 million of reserves to reduce the impact of this cut and amends the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2018/19 accordingly. This should be funded from Children & Families or People Group reserves and from corporate reserves.'

(3) Add the following words at the end of the last sentence:

', including investigation of using funds from growth in the Council Tax base as a sustainable solution.'

The motion as amended would then read:

'This Council supports the ambition of ensuring all of Warwickshire's children have the best start in life, recognising that further development is necessary to build an effective service for the long term. To ensure there are sufficient resources to achieve this ambition, the Council agrees to use £1.12 million of reserves to reduce the impact of this cut and amends the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2018/19 accordingly. This should be funded from Children & Families or People Group reserves and from corporate reserves. Any change to the ongoing funding will be resolved as part of the 2018/19 budget process, including investigation of using funds from growth in the Council Tax base as a sustainable solution.

Proposer: Councillor Jerry Roodhouse

Seconder: Councillor Jonathan Chilvers