Birmingham to axe 37 children’s centres in bid to save £16m a year

Birmingham City Council is to reduce the number of children’s centres it runs by 37 as part of a major reorganisation of early years services. The local authority first announced plans to make changes to early years provision in June. Following a public consultation over the summer Birmingham City Council has announced that 21 of its 61 children’s centres will close. A further 16 will be de-registered as children’s centres but remain open, offering a reduced service to families – meaning the total number of official children’s centres will fall to 24. Read more.