More jobs at risk in Dudley children's centres shake-up

It comes after the council made a U-turn on plans to close seven of the borough's 20 centres, after the proposals sparked outrage from parents and councillors.

At the time, Dudley Council said all centres would remain open for the foreseeable future but it would need to look at other ways to make savings due to pressure on the children's services budget.

But the council has revealed 19 jobs have been identified as at risk of redundancy, which includes nine management positions which already been cut.

The borough's education chief Tim Crumpton said: "We have 20 children's centres in the borough and employ 226 staff.

"Following extensive public consultation we have committed to keeping all 20 centres open and remodel the service.

"Sadly, we identified 19 positions at risk of redundancy. Of these, some have since left the service of their own choice and we are continuing to work with the other employees following council procedures."

The process is expected to be completed by the end of August.

As part of the shake-up, five main centres have retained services while others have had their hours slashed and number of services cut as a result.

The management of the centres has been merged into five 'cluster' centres – Brierley Hill, Dudley Central, Dudley North, Halesowen and Stourbridge

The number of management positions has been reduced from 14 to five.

Thousands protested against the closure plans, which the council had hoped would save £2.3million over the next three years to help meet a £30million shortfall.

Parents,councillors and MPs campaigned to protect them from closure, saying they were a vital part of communities.

They argued the centres provide an important lifeline and a support network for new parents with children aged up to five.

Hundreds of people responded to a council consultation on the centre and many raised petitions calling for the council to re-think its decision.

More than 15,000 children have access to the centres, which are used throughout the week.

They provide children's activities, support, including access to childminding and nursery services, ante-natal services and links with Jobcentre Plus to give careers advice to parents.

As part of the council's review of children's centres, there have been talks about other services such as credit unions, citizen's advice surgeries and health clinics being based at the centres. Bosses said increasing the number of services offered could actually help reduce costs.