Elected members are expected to sound the death knell for kids’ clubs throughout Perth and Kinross this week.
The decision to cut the clubs was one of the most controversial made as budget cuts of £23m over three years were announced by the council in February.
It was a bitter blow for the many full-time working parents who depend on after-school childcare to earn a living.
Many have fought to retain services in their communities ever since, but the local authority maintains that it cannot continue to subsidise loss-making clubs.
With no change of heart likely, there are now claims that some families could be forced to sell up and leave the area.
A report to go before the council’s lifelong learning committee on Wednesday will reiterate the need for the cuts and outline alternative means of providing out-of-school care in the region.
There has been some comfort for those who rely on the service in Errol and Dunkeld and Birnam, as their kids’ clubs are being offered something of a stay of execution.
While a number will close on July 1, those communities will be given until the end of the year to find an alternative means of securing care provision.
The report to go before councillors contains details of the support that the council can offer to communities to help make childcare available in other ways.
The proposals come from a recent review of kids’ club provision, which identified for closure or reduction of service, and from subsequent engagement with affected parents and carers.
Perth and Kinross Council took the decision to review and reduce loss-making kids’ clubs as part of its 2011/12 budget on the basis that they could no longer be operated affordably.
Those expected to close are Abernethy, Birnam and Dunkeld, Blackford, Coupar Angus, Craigie/Moncrieffe in Perth, Crieff, Comrie, Errol, Longforgan and Pitlochry.
Other clubs will continue to be be managed and subsidised by the council but will offer significantly reduced services.
The committee will hear that widespread engagement has taken place with parents and carers, looking at each situation and attempting to identify ways in which they can be assisted and supported.
Information has been shared with parents about alternative childcare already available but also on how they could take on providing a service.
It is proposed, subject to the committee’s approval, that support and resources will continue to be made available to parents and communities where clubs will close from July 1.Alternative childcareThe intention is to assist parents to either find alternative childcare, consider how they could take over the running of their local club or set up a new service.
In the case of Errol and Dunkeld and Birnam, councillors will be asked to agree that a transition period applies to the end of 2011 while parents move to new ways of self-managing the service.
Errol parent Ian Coleman said members of the community were facing tough decisions as time begins to run out for a service that users consider vital to their daily lives.
He said, “People are putting their houses on the market because they fear there will not be any out-of-hours services available.
“We do not believe the council has carried out an adequate survey into the number of users as we believe the kids’ club looks sustainable.
Mr Coleman said that parents remained determined to keep going and secure a future for the after-school club, but admitted it was difficult for parents to consider giving up their jobs to run such a service.
Nonetheless, he added, “Keeping it open obviously remains our preferred option.”‘Financial challenges’Lifelong learning convener Councillor Liz Grant said that the council had “faced significant financial challenges” in setting the 2011/12 budget and would continue to face such challenges for the foreseeable future.
She said, “We have therefore had to make difficult choices about the way we deliver our services.
“We need to ensure the best use of existing and future resources, so it was clearly not possible for us to continue subsidising the loss-making kids’ clubs.”
She added, “The focus since the budget decision for us has been on working with local communities to identify alternative out-of-school childcare options for youngsters, and where possible, to help parents and carers to look at setting up their own care provision.
“There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach proposed here, but instead a careful assessment of each local situation.”
Mrs Grant said, “We will continue that focus on making support available in other ways to communities, progress will be monitored and we will report back to the committee in due course.”
Photo used under a Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user woodleywonderworks