Save Camden Child Care

Lucy Reese writes in the Guardian on the campaign to save Camden Sq.

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:04:11 +0000

Lucy Reese writes in the Guardian on the campaign to save Camden Sq.

Help us keep Camden Square play centre open

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:14:09 +0000

The playcentre at Camden Square has been part of our local community for over 30 years and has provided generations of children with somewhere safe and fun to play. It is a lifeline for working parents, providing holiday and after school care and also offers a wonderful service for children with special needs.

The playcentre is purpose built and is a great place for children to play. The staff are amazing and are like an extended family for parents and kids alike. We think it would be a tragedy if this much loved centre were to close - it currently faces closure in Sept 2012 as a result of budget cuts.

We have started an action group to keep the centre open and now want YOUR support.

Please sign our petition.

Watch a video of our deputation

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:57:38 +0000

Watch a video of our deputation:

Our deputation starts at 00:41:20 (you may need to install the Microsoft Silverlight plugin to watch the video).

Save Camden Child Care takes a deputation to the council

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:01:00 +0000

Last night, hundreds of people gathered to march to Camden Town Hall, ahead of the councillors’ vote on the budget. A deputation organised by Save Camden Child Care were inside the council chamber. Here’s what we had to say.

I’m here to present a set of petitions, signed by many hundreds of Camden residents.

Our petitions call on the council to reconsider it’s plans for dramatic cuts to the funding of play and early years services.

We fully understand that the council faces unprecedented cuts to its funding, and that services across the board will be affected. We also recognise that statutory obligations mean that cuts may need to be concentrated more in some areas than in others. However, in proposing a 65% cut to play service funding, the council clearly indicates a lack of understanding of the importance of these services to the community. The impact of cutting them will be devastating, particularly to low-income families and single mothers who will struggle to remain in work.

The council argues that a universal play service is no longer affordable, and states that future provision will be focussed on vulnerable families. This argument is flawed. You cannot help vulnerable children if your means of helping them segregates them from the rest of the community.

Last month, five members of our campaign met with Anne Baxter, Anne Turner, and Councillor Heather Johnson to make the case for play services based on the concept of universal provision. While there were no promises of more money, we were given a commitment that the council would continue to fund a universal service including childcare for working parents. In public the council continues to state otherwise, so I ask the Councillor to restate this commitment.

We also need transparency with regard to how children’s centres and play-centres are assessed for closure. We know that the council plans to address its capital shortfall by selling off commercial properties. We need a statement about how any centres up for closure figure in these plans?

Play and early years services are vitally important to ordinary families, and to the community as a whole. We’ve been told that Camden has a higher level of provision than other councils. This is an indication of our priorities, not a license to cut. 19% of Camden’s children are living in poverty, according to newly published research by Save the Children.

The depth of feeling and concern over the level of these cuts is reflected again and again in comments made by Camden residents signing our petition. We urge you to read these comments and hear what they have to say.

You can watch the proceedings on Camden’s website. Our deputation starts at 41mins 20secs.

19% of Camden's children are living in poverty

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:27:15 +0000

19% of Camden's children are living in poverty:

New research from Save the Children

Front page of today’s Camden New Journal

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:07:00 +0000

Front page of today’s Camden New Journal

Watch a video of the cabinet meeting

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:18:00 +0000

Watch a video of the cabinet meeting:

The deputations start at 00:08:12

Kids protest outside the Town Hall

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:39:26 +0000

Kids protest outside the Town Hall

Hundreds turn out for Town Hall protest.

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:13:22 +0000

Hundreds turn out for Town Hall protest.

TONIGHT! Playdate with the Cabinet, Camden Town Hall, 6-7PM

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:43:00 +0000

TONIGHT! Playdate with the Cabinet, Camden Town Hall, 6-7PM:

Join us for a celebration of play in honour of the Children’s Deputation to the Cabinet. We need to show the council how many people care about the cuts to children’s services. There will be activities for children run by play workers in a safe, fun party atmosphere (why not bring cake!). Children: please bring a drawing of yourself playing at your playcentre. We will be gathering at the Town Hall, Judd Street at 6.00PM, with processions from both Plot 10 in Somers Town and Coram Fields.

The council consults!

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 11:46:35 +0000

The council consults!

Parent Council Meeting this Saturday 19 February

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:58:40 +0000

There is a Parent Council event on Saturday February 19th 10.15 – 1pm.

Cllr. Heather Johnson, Cabinet Member Children Schools and Families will be attending the meeting. There will be focus groups on Housing, Early Years and Play asking for your ideas on the future of these services and your priorities in this time of change.

It is at St Pancras Hospital, 4, St Pancras Way. If you are hoping to come along please contact Barbara Ludlow 020 7974 7249 or if you would like a creche place phone 020 7974 2943. There is room for 70 parents and you need to book ahead of time. There is still room in the crèche but will probably fill up.

Letter from Theo Blackwell

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:30:00 +0000

We desperately don’t want to make cuts, especially to this service but the gap we face is equivalent to a 33% increase to the base in your council tax this year and for the next two years. Since we have no way of raising revenue, we are forced by the government to make cuts.

Happy for you to seek legal clarification, but when we cut less in one area we cut more in another (e.g. services for older people). We have tried to protect the early years budget (£30m) as much as possible for precisely the reasons you outline - but the sad fact is that the government is forcing councils to suck money away from discretionary services in order to support high cost higher needs services (e.g. special needs, senile dementia etc).

In this process we are fully aware that cuts to discretionary services carry a higher bill in the end - more people not able to work (reduced childcare), anti-social behaviour (fewer youth clubs), isolation/more trips to A&E (fewer seniors luncheon clubs/libraries), however the frontloading of the cuts by the government has made closures inevitable.

‘Efficiencies’ will only go half the way. We are cutting 1000 posts, reducing senior and managerial pay, bulk buying with other councils - but front line cuts are inevitable the question is - which ones?

Childcare groups, library users, older peoples advocates, community groups etc all make their case compellingly, as do people in certain areas of the borough but the Secretary of State for Local Government did not fight the corner for local public services, instead we are used as chaff for their wider cuts programme which is increasingly looking an ideological one and nothing to do with deficit reduction/preventing the UK, one of the largest and most creative economies in the world, ‘turning into Greece’.

Why we can’t preserve some services is that this is the first part of a 6 year programme rushed through by the government, rather than paying debt off over the long-term, as the UK did after the Second World War. Only once in peace time have local public services been cut for two successive years - the national government programme is, as I say, to do this for 6 successive years, something that has never been attempted before.

We have attempted to make representations but the government doesn’t want to listen - and basically tells us to sack more staff, sell buildings, outsource and do less. It might interest you that in the next two years the council will be spending the equivalent of all of its reserves - £12m - on redundancy payments as a consequence of the cuts.

That is the sad, and brutal reality.

Theo

Breakfast and Afterschool Clubs up for Closure

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:03:00 +0000

A large number of afterschool and breakfast clubs are being threatened with closure. Please contact Rebecca Moss or Tina Mahon at the below emails for more info. If you don’t see a contact next to your club, please consider nominating yourself and speaking with other parents who use your club.

Primrose Hill

Brecknock

Beckford—Rebecca Moss <bexski2003@yahoo.co.uk>

Fleet

New End—Tina Mahon <Tina.Mahon@candi.ac.uk>

Brookfields

St Joseph’s

Torriano

Eleanor Palmer

Caversham and Acol Children's Centres Threatened with Closure

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:37:00 +0000

For details on Acol see http://www.gopetition.com/petition/42498.html

For details on Caversham, see

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Caversham-Childrens-Centre/194423073903636

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/42353.html

Councils failing to provide childcare

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:30:00 +0000

The difficulties faced by working parents will be laid bare this week when a new report claims that councils are breaking their legal obligation to offer affordable childcare.

With a shortage of places at nurseries and after-school clubs, and insufficient childminders available, some parents are forced to spend as much as £22,000-a-year on private childcare while they are at work.

The Daycare Trust will use its 10th annual childcare survey to reveal the extent to which the problem is being exacerbated by inaction from local authorities. It comes amid growing concern that some benefits cuts will make it less financially viable for parents to take a job or increase their hours.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/councils-failing-to-provide-childcare-says-charity-2205727.html

We're making progress!

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 23:17:00 +0000

Save Camden Child Care met with council leaders at the town hall on Friday morning. Representing Save Camden Child Care were parents Giles Perry and Donia Imam, public sector play service representative Barry Walden (Camden UNISON), and from the voluntary sector Marion Pike (Maiden Lane) and Sally Warren (Plot 10). Camden Council were represented by Councillor Heather Johnson (Cabinet Member, Children, Schools and Families), Anne Baxter (Director, Children Schools & Families), and Anne Turner (Assistant Director, Family Services).

Both parents and play service representatives spoke eloquently and with great emotion in defence of Camden’s play services, and we feel confident our message was heard.

The council’s response was mixed. There is no change to the figures. Camden still plan to cut £2.8 million from play services over the next three years. Total expenditure is being reduced by 65% (from £4.3M to £1.5M over three years). There is currently no role envisaged for Camden’s five directly managed play centres, and the future is uncertain for the 12 existing voluntary sector play centres who receive 70% of their funding from the council. Even if efficiencies can be achieved, it remains difficult to see how play services can be maintained at anywhere near the current level.

But we are making progress. In December it looked like the play centres would close almost immediately and without consultation. The council have now committed to a full consultation involving parents, play workers and service managers, and to maintaining the existing service for the next year. Most importantly, the council now accept that the service must include universal provision.

These are really important concessions. But we need to keep up the pressure on the council to find more money. Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign so far.

Urgent! Attend your local Area Action Group

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:49:37 +0000

Here is a list of Area Action groups occurring in January. Parents need to turn up in large numbers to protest against the proposed closure of play centres. Attend the meeting in the ward where you live, the ward which your school or play centre is in, or both, with the same message: don’t cut children’s services.

You can remind your councillors that the council have a legal duty to provide sufficient childcare under the Childcare Act 2006. By closing the play services they will be producing a gap in “availability during a particular time” when the 2000 children who use the play services during the summer school holiday have no summer play scheme.

You can also say that the council will be failing in their duty to safeguard under Section 11(2)(a) Children Act 2004 when this gap in seasonal childcare occurs, and children are looked after by older siblings, left alone, or end up on the streets when their parents are at work.

Tuesday 25 January 2011 Kentish Town Ward, NW5 Community Play Project (Vol Sec), Eleanor Palmer After School Club, Torriano After School Club, Ingestre Road CC (Vol Sec), 7 - 9pm, Kentish Town Library, 262 - 266 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AA

Wednesday 26 January 2011 Swiss Cottage Ward, Winchester Project (Vol Sec) 7 - 8.30pm, Crossfield Centre, 8 Fairhazel Gardens, NW6 2SG

Thursday 27 January 2011, Gospel Oak Ward, Weedington Road Playcentre, Fleet After School Club, Kentish Town City Farm, Gospel Oak ASC 7 - 9pm, Cresswood TRA Hall, 215 Queens Crescent, NW5 4DP

Wednesday 2 February 2011 7.30 - 9.30pm, Highgate Ward, Highgate Newtown Community Centre, Brookfield After School Clubs, Holly Lodge Community Centre, Highgate library, Chester Road, N19 5DH

Monday 7 February 2011 7 - 9.30pm, Fortune Green and West Hampstead Ward, Fortune Green Playcentre, Beckford After School Club, Sidings Community Centre, Hampstead Synagogue hall, Dennington Park Road, NW6 1AX

Thursday 10 February 2011 (DATE CHANGED), Haverstock, Talacre Action Group (TAG) (Vol Sec) 7 - 9pm, VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED

Template letter to send to councillors

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:37:00 +0000

Below is a template letter that you can send to your councillors. Remember, this is personal so take a moment to add in a few details such as your child’s name and the centre they attend. You may want to add some specific questions or statements to it as well. Make sure you include your name and address.

Pressure at this stage is vital. Encourage family and friends to send e-mails too.

——————————————————————————-

Dear Councillor (insert surname)

I am writing to you to express my dismay at the proposed cuts to Camden play services. I understand that the budget is being slashed by between 60-70%. Many working parents will face an appalling dilemma: keeping their job or ensuring their child is properly and safely looked after during those hours of work when they are not in school.

Over 2,000 children used the service last year. These cuts will disproportionately hurt women and those on lower incomes. There is a real danger that more families will be pushed into poverty. This includes the many workers who will lose their jobs.

These cuts pose a very real danger to our children’s safety. Many will either be left home alone or with inappropriate care arrangements where older siblings are left looking after younger ones. This will increase the potential of accidental injuries.

Older children will have nowhere to go but the streets. This will inevitably lead to a rise in anti-social behaviour and crime. The Lambeth council leader has already spoken out against the cuts, saying that “cuts will spark a teen crime whirlwind”. The council has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under Section 11(2)(a) Children Act 2004. What is the council doing to ensure this duty is upheld?

The council plans to only offer play services to vulnerable children and those with disabilities but that is counter-productive and directly opposes all expert advice. Play projects work in an inclusive way where children in need and children with disabilities play with their friends and neighbours. Children thrive better with positive peer role models while exclusive provision leads to isolation and stigmatises those attending the service. This is against the ethos of play. Does the council believe that it is really serving the interests of vulnerable and disabled children by isolating them in this way?

The Childcare Act 2006 states that the local authority has a duty to: “Secure sufficient childcare for the needs of working parents in their area.” In light of these massive cuts, exactly what is Camden council doing to ensure it adheres to this duty? Parents need to know what alternatives are going to be available.

These centres form a vital part of our community; some have been providing care for many decades. The cuts will also force a large number of workers out of work and into the benefit system. This will further damage our local economy.

My son/daughter/children attend (insert play scheme) and the provision and standard of care they receive is excellent. I know that (insert child’s name) is safe, secure and learning in a fun environment. Withdrawing these services is short-sighted and will cost the council, and therefore all of us residents of Camden, far more in the future.

I urge you to re-think and save the services we parents rely on to keep us in employment and keep our children safe.

I look forward to your prompt response to my questions and concerns.

Yours sincerely

(Name and address)

Contacts for councillors - start hounding them!

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 09:19:00 +0000

Parents! Take action! (And ask your family and friends to do so as well.)

Below is a list of all Camden councillors, including their political affiliation and e-mail address. A template letter will be posted shortly, which you can alter make it more personal to you, your local play centre and your child/children.

It is vital to pressure all the councillors, not just those who are in cabinet. If each councillor starts to receive dozens of e-mails daily asking similar and direct questions about what the council is doing, it will make them think (I hope).

The more pressure we exert, the more power we may have. Let’s get massive support for the campaign to save our childrens’ futures, the centres and very importantly, the jobs of the wonderful workers who look after them so brilliantly for us.

Find your ward (if you’re not sure, click here) and then e-mail all three of your councillors. Give them a few days to respond, and if they don’t, email them again. Keep up the pressure.

Belsize
Jonny Bucknell Conservative jonny.bucknell@camden.gov.uk
Claire-Louise Leyland Conservative claire-louise.leyland@camden.gov.uk
Tom Simon Liberal Democrats tom.simon@camden.gov.uk

Bloomsbury
Adam Harrison Labour adam.harrison@camden.gov.uk
Milena Nuti Labour milena.nuti@camden.gov.uk
Abdul Quadir Labour abdul.quadir@camden.gov.uk

Camden Town with Primrose Hill
Patricia Callaghan Labour Patricia.Callaghan@camden.gov.uk
Chris Naylor Liberal Democrats Chris.Naylor@camden.gov.uk
Thomas Neumark Labour Thomas.Neumark@camden.gov.uk

Cantelowes
Paul Braithwaite Liberal Democrats Paul.Braithwaite@camden.gov.uk
Phil Jones Labour Phil.Jones@camden.gov.uk
Angela Mason Labour Angela.Mason@camden.gov.uk

Fortune Green
Russell Eagling Liberal Democrats Russell.Eagling@camden.gov.uk
Nancy Jirira Liberal Democrats Nancy.Jirira@camden.gov.uk
Flick Rea Liberal Democrats Flick.Rea@camden.gov.uk

Frognal and Fitzjohns
Andrew Mennear Conservative Andrew.Mennear@camden.gov.uk
Gio Spinella Conservative Gio.Spinella@camden.gov.uk
Laura Trott Conservative Laura.Trott@camden.gov.uk

Gospel Oak
Sean Birch Labour Sean.Birch@camden.gov.uk
Theo Blackwell Labour Theo.Blackwell@camden.gov.uk
Larraine Revah Labour Larraine.Revah@camden.gov.uk

Hampstead Town
Linda Chung Liberal Democrats Linda.Chung@camden.gov.uk
Chris Knight Conservative Chris.Knight@camden.gov.uk
Kirsty Roberts Conservative Kirsty.Roberts@camden.gov.uk

Haverstock
Rahel Bokth Liberal Democrats Rahel.Bokth@camden.gov.uk
Jill Fraser Liberal Democrats Jill.Fraser@camden.gov.uk
Matthew Sanders Liberal Democrats Matthew.Sanders@camden.gov.uk

Highgate
Maya de Souza Green maya.desouza@camden.gov.uk
Valerie Leach Labour Valerie.Leach@camden.gov.uk
Michael Nicolaides Labour Michael.Nicolaides@camden.gov.uk

Holborn and Covent Garden
Julian Fulbrook Labour Julian.Fulbrook@camden.gov.uk
Awale Olad Labour Awale.Olad@camden.gov.uk
Sue Vincent Labour Sue.Vincent@camden.gov.uk

Kentish Town
Meric Apak Labour Meric.Apak@camden.gov.uk
Georgia Gould Labour Georgia.Gould@camden.gov.uk
Jenny Headlam-Wells Labour jenny.headlam-wells@camden.gov.uk

Kilburn
Maryam Eslamdoust Labour Maryam.Eslamdoust@camden.gov.uk
Thomas Gardiner Labour Thomas.Gardiner@camden.gov.uk
Mike Katz Labour Mike.Katz@camden.gov.uk

King’s Cross
Abdul Hai Labour Abdul.Hai@camden.gov.uk
Sarah Hayward Labour Sarah.Hayward@camden.gov.uk
Jonathan Simpson Labour Jonathan.Simpson@camden.gov.uk

Regent’s Park
Nasim Ali Labour (Leader of the Council) Nasim.Ali@camden.gov.uk
Heather Johnson Labour Heather.Johnson@camden.gov.uk
Tulip Siddiq Labour Tulip.Siddiq@camden.gov.uk

St Pancras and Somers Town
Peter Brayshaw Labour PeterBrayshaw@camden.gov.uk
Samata Khatoon Labour Samata.Khatoon@camden.gov.uk
Roger Robinson Labour Roger.Robinson@camden.gov.uk

Swiss Cottage
Roger Freeman Conservative Roger.Freeman@camden.gov.uk
Andrew Marshall Conservative Andrew.Marshall@camden.gov.uk
Don Williams Conservative Don.Williams@camden.gov.uk

West Hampstead
John Bryant Liberal Democrats John.Bryant@camden.gov.uk
Keith Moffitt Liberal Democrats Keith.Moffitt@camden.gov.uk
Gillian Risso-Gill Liberal Democrats gillian.risso-gill@camden.gov.uk