At Surrey County Council’s last Cabinet meeting, senior Conservative Councillors approved plans to shut 31 of Surrey’s 58 children centres.

Several other Lib Dem County Councillors and I spoke out at the meeting against the closures, believing the proposals were not in the best interests of the residents of Surrey and the current users of the centres.

Surrey County Council’s 2030 Vision suggests that the aim moving forward is to have a County in which ‘no one is left behind’, but Surrey Lib Dems argue that by taking away the Children’s Centres, and in the sheer numbers agreed on Tuesday, this leaves many of the most vulnerable open to suffering.

Lib Dems support the proposed modernisation of the service and the targeting of the most vulnerable.  But we cannot accept that so many centres need to close when they provide a safe place for vulnerable women and families – those suffering from domestic violence and post-natal depression, and those struggling to breast feed and to adjust to motherhood without family support.

Surrey County Council’s plans to close 31 of 58 of our Children’s Centres is completely flawed and ignores the public consultation, nobody outside County Hall wants to see these centres closed.  The County Council is using out-of-date data, meaning the Council’s new looked Children’s Centres won’t be supporting some of the most vulnerable families.

In my Borough of Woking, the Council is to close 5 out of 7 Children’s Centres, despite Woking having significant pockets of deprivation and being the second poorest Borough in Surrey.  Under the Council’s plans, centres in Brookwood, Horsell, Old Woking, Pyrford and St John’s would all close, leaving just 2 Children’s Centres to cover the whole Borough of a much reduced budget.  These centres help families most in need, but now not everyone will be able to easily access them.