(The Guardian, Patrick Butler) 'Optimistic' 40% targets for back-office savings would represent only 3.6% of annual expenditure, says thinktank

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(The Guardian) Dozens of children were playing in the busy streets outside Camden town hall in central London long after dark on Wednesday evening, bouncing on space hoppers, skipping through hula hoops, standing by the traffic and holding balloons in the rain. They were part of a larger protest against local authority cuts being discussed inside, a stunt aimed at showing how children will be pushed back towards hanging out on the streets if the council goes ahead with a proposed 70% cut to play services.

In the cacophony of chanting, their voices were drowned out by campaigners demanding that day centres for people with learning disabilities be preserved, by sports centre workers calling for their clubs to stay open, by carers for older people shouting that cuts to home-care services were killing people.

Inside, at a noisy cabinet meeting, parents and volunteers took turns to make last-ditch pleas to the council to save services before final budget decisions are taken on Monday. For the first time, children were given a chance to speak to the crowded council chamber.

"We need and deserve a safe place to play," one 10-year-old said, in a faltering speech that drew cheers from the public gallery. "We are the children of the future. You are the children of the past." Councillors listened in silence, frowning at their feet.

(Kilburn Times) Brent Council’s children’s services chief has spoken out to quash fears that an imminent restructuring of early years services will hamper provision.

Denise Burke, early years and childcare manager, said the authority is ‘bucking the trend’ in not closing any children’s centres despite large government cuts, and assured parents they will see ‘very little difference’ in the services they get.

Her comments come after parents expressed fears that the council’s plans to restructure children’s centres and reduce the amount of centrally commissioned nutritional and work advice, and speech and language therapy, will disrupt care.

Mrs Burke told the Times: “We really want to reassure that we are keeping all our centres open and there will be little difference in front line services, certainly for the majority of parents.

“Brent really is bucking the trend of children’s centre closures. We are retaining all our 17 centres, of which 14 are going to continue to provide a full delivery service.”