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Victory declared in regional daily-backed children’s centres fight

Parents have been successful in saving four children’s centres from closure after winning a regional daily’s backing.

The Argus in Brighton began its Save Our Centres drive in January off the back of a petition launched by the pressure group Brighton Parents Against Children’s Centre & Library Group Closures, which has received almost 1,000 signatures.

In a bid to make savings before setting the 2015/16 budget, Brighton & Hove City Council was considering putting four children’s centres at risk.

As reported last week on HTFP, the authority had already confirmed two of the centres at risk would be spared.

Argus kids

Now the council has voted in favour of a 1.99pc increase in council tax for the forthcoming year with amendments which protect children’s services outright, meaning the other two centres will also remain open.

Coverage of the campaign in The Argus included an investigation into council accounts which showed the authority was sitting on £30m it could use instead of making cuts.

Recently-appointed editor Mike Gilson said: “We are thrilled The Argus campaign helped to make a difference.

“But this series of events shows there needs to be a long term solution in place to ensure these vital facilities are there children in the future.”

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  • March 10, 2015 at 12:07 pm
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    I’m not sure if the headline reflects the true story in this one.

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