Mums have reacted with fury to plans to end council-run Sure Start, nurseries and daycare.
Manchester town hall revealed that it will cease to be a direct provider of daycare for newborns to five-year-olds under new proposals that will also bring 390 job losses.
The shake-up of early-years provision, forced by town hall spending cuts, will go out to a 90-day public consultation next month. But mums who use the service pleaded for a re-think. Bosses have pledged to keep all daycare centres which are fit for use open for communities, despite closing the facilities that operate from them. The buildings would either be used as meeting and activity spaces for groups or rented to other providers.
The changes, which will be phased in over four years, will affect the 11 per cent of families who use council daycare and will mean the end of Sure Start provision in the city. Instead, 60 outreach posts will be created and every family of a newborn will be visited at home by an outreach worker who will stay in touch until the child is three. Parents will also get a monthly newsletter advising them on their child’s development.
The council’s early-years’ budget has been slashed from £29m to just £7m. And from next September its legal requirement to provide 15 hours a week early education for three to four-year-olds will be delivered through the private, voluntary and independent sectors and schools.
Danielle Leadbetter and Joanne McCann, of the Save Manchester Sure Start campaign, said: “As we have always expressed to Manchester city council, there are many reasons why they shouldn't dismantle the Sure Start service and their plans to solely focus on the most vulnerable families will leave those families with universal needs at a far greater risk of falling into the vulnerable and needy groups.”
Claire Tomkinson, 31, who has a three-year-old son, Liam, and uses the Clayton centre, said: “ This will be a big blow for working parents who rely on the daycare services.”
Working mum-of-two Claire Ridley, 34, of Ashton New Road, Clayton, has used the Sure Start and daycare facilities for both her children. She said: “I really don't know what I'd do without them.”
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Sure Start is a god send for many family's and their children who learn before attending school. Lets have some cuts in the obscene waste of money in city hall and cut lavish corporate expenditure to save this service
In this country soon...there will be NOTHING left available for people unless they pay for it......so the normal working class families who rely on services like this will lose out. We need to be able to support families on lower incomes to get ahead in life. If we dont, then it will turn to poverty...that turns to crime...thus broken families. SORT THIS OUT ASAP
It's the same old mantra. People say they understand that cuts have to made in every area but when i comes to cuts that directly affect them, they suddenly become a special case. Only 11% of families use this scheme - alas, they'll have to do what everyone else does. Pay for childcare or don't have children if you can't afford to or are not willing to make financial sacrifices.
The top heavy council is still playing politics Too many chiefs and not enough Native Americans!! Let's blame the Tory cuts,eh?
A ciminal pawning of young Mancunian people's future by a self-serving self-styled 'socialist' managerial elite in order to maintain the middle class lifetstyles this over-salaried clique have built up over the years. Not a single managerial car allowance or car parking space will have been sacrificed, I bet. Ever seen a manager on a bus in working hours? Didn't think so. Wait for the hot air the press office will spin out now.
Since when has it been the responsibility of the taxpayer to subside the education of pre-school children? If you can't afford kids, don't have them.
I really dont know how these people (leaders) can be so hard faced and two faced after Sheila Newman promised early this year that "No Surestarts would close" and then Richard Leese offering to keep discussions about keeping Surestart in the public domain firmly on the table as an option and then this unsurprising u turn is unbelievable. They need to rework how this city is run (badly) and stop putting the private sector before the needs of the indigenious people. Yes we have a growing ignorant underclass, due to the last governments wild dishing out of benefits, declining moral guidance from the top, uncapped immigration and an unmonitored banking system, but unless these people are educated and nurtured to be the next working/middle classes contributing their taxes and other benefits to society then patterns of poverty and ignorance will continue, Surestart can make a valuable contribution to our broken society at least helping the kids have a decent start - surely a benefit to any society - good building blocks. Anyone can use Surestart too btw but maybe even the middle classes may turn more to this service now that we hear childcare is the dearest in Europe will they be turned away too now??
As Cameron should state when they arrive for the Tory party conference in October Wheres the evidence the council are cutting their waste? they seem to be spending more than ever to me! Have any leaders taken a pay cut yet?
as one of the main campaigners for the campaign for saving sure start it deeply upsets me on some of these comments. My husband has worked for the past 22 years and i have worked for 15 years - i gave up work as i had to not by choice. I had my son 7 years ago and DIED 3 times. i was very lucky. I have suffered from severe post traumatic stress and was also sectioned and placed on a mother and baby unit. once i was released from hospital i was introduced to sure start who changed my life, if it wasnt for sure start and their staff I WOULD NOT BE HERE, MY HUSBAND WOULD NOT BE HERE MY TWO YEAR OLD SON WOULD NOT BE HERE AND MY ELDEST WOULD BE IN CARE, 33 years me and my husband have been paying into the system so why cant we recieve some benefit. alot of the people who make these comments have probably not got children or they have not been in a centre or day care. Due to personal reasons i dont benefit from day care but i have used a lot of facilities with in the sure start centres, people think its people who are on benefits who have children and then they cant be bothered looking after them well we are not, we are people who want the best for our children. When woman have children it is a very difficult time, if your body strugglies with child birth or hormones go then no amount of money will make you happy. so start thinking about reality and dont class us all like the image you have.
It's not just people on benefits that use these centres and there's more to them than the playgroup element.Being a parent at home all day with very young children can be isolating and these centres run groups for parents to meet up,find playmates for their little ones and maybe have half an hour for themselves to improve their C.V's,take cooking lessons,craft sessions or get advice on everything from childcare,going back to work and pregnancy matters. We should all be fighting to keep these centres open because If you care about the state that this country is in and you want change for the better,you need to start on your own doorstep.
what is developing in this country is 'americanism' everyone should fend for themselves and if you fall behind tough! no compassion, no empathy, we heading for a right tear up, the looting and rioting last month is nothing to what is coming!
Mike Livingstone Strategic Director of Childrens Services has 5 subordinates for a start who can all answer his emails/queries? Why? thats an example of how the nepotism continues at the top to the detriment of essential services such as Surestart, outreach may become a bigger priority now but every vulnerable family simply cannot always be accounted for, at centres you are not prejudged and can walk in for refuge, support or just for a chat so isolation and depression does not set in. Its essential it stays in public hands and "not for profit" or TOT for PROFIT! as the campaigns banner states. Some services have to make a small loss or break even. You cannot/shouldnt profit from childcare its morally wrong. Save Manchester Surestart Campaign has tried to negotiate tirelessly with our "leaders" to keep services public and now this disgraceful U Turn. Beware of your local friendly labour councillors they simply do not want to invest in its people or youth of tomorrow. Look forward to more riots Manchester!!! Great :-(
My son goes to a sure start centre and I work very hard to provide for my children and that they get the best in life. This council is shocking they are making it very hard for the hard working people of manchester to maintain a reasonable way of life and in my eyes people who cannot be bothered are thought of better. The childcare provided by the staff is excellent and you dont get that at private nurseries. Why on earth would parents want a monthly newsletter about there childs development this idea is a total waste of money and so are alot of other things that are happening in manchester at the minute. As for people saying if you cant afford kids dont have them who gives you the right to say that. Thats like saying we shouldnt treat people in the NHS because you smoke, drink, are obese or anything that you have helped cause any conditions. People should stick together at time like this not be divide by class.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/SAVE-Manchester-SURE-Starts/109454499134789
this is our facebook page if anyone is interested in joining us and the campaign, we are putting upto date information on there. we need more people to come and support us.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=247768118591828
we are taking part in the rally on the 2nd of october in manchester. A high up council worker said the people who use the facilities are people who get of bed at 12 and go shopping in their pyjamas so we have decided to wear them on the march. please come and join us there is people travelling from all over the country and so will the media.