by Hayley Robinson

All Kent County Council-funded children’s centres across Swale are to remain open.

There were fears some could face the axe as funding from central government has been merged with other grants and is no longer ringfenced – meaning the money can be spent elsewhere.

But KCC announced last Thursday that the borough’s 10 centres will continue to provide services to the community as the budget for all the county’s 97 centres has now been agreed.

Cllr Jenny Whittle, cabinet member for specialist children’s services, said from the start she was keen to see all the centres remain open.

As a result she pledged in February, when the budget was first discussed, that no one centre will have a reduction of more than 11 per cent in funding and this has been kept to. Some areas where the need for essential one-stop shops is greater have had a reduction of less than six per cent which includes Seashells Children and Families’ Centre in Rose Street, Sheerness.

The news has been welcomed by Swale council. A spokesman said: "We were recently nominated for a national award for our children’s services work at Seashells. We are rightly proud of these centres and are really pleased that they will remain."

Cllr Whittle said: "In other areas of the country, local authorities have decided to close children’s centres following substantial government funding reductions. I don’t think this would have been right for Kent.

"We have listened to parents and those expecting children, who have told us how much they treasure these centres.

"Previously, they had dedicated government funding.

"This funding is now part of a wider grant, which has been reduced, so we have had to look at how we can do things differently with less money."