Mike Forster
Around 100 angry parents and their children demonstrated through the streets of Huddersfield on Saturday 3 March against Kirklees council’s proposals to mothball half of the 32 children’s centres.
Intense negotiations have been taking place between the council leader, Mehboob Khan, and campaign leaders about the final proposals. Initially the parents were asked to call off the demo, but when they refused, the leaders of the three main parties actually turned up on the protest!
The campaign is clearly paying off. Councillors are becoming very nervous in the run-up to the local elections. Final proposals will soon be known. Parents are planning to respond in detail and to lobby the cabinet meeting on 13 March which will ratify any recommendations.
If the campaign’s action committee is not happy with the council’s position, then six councillors are standing by to ‘call in’ the decision, which will mean it will be referred to the council’s scrutiny committee for further consideration.
None of the council’s recommendations can be implemented until the scrutiny committee has finished its work.
The action committee is determined that its work will continue until all of the centres are saved and parents are given a direct say in how services will be run in the future.
