Church Street’s Labour councillors petition against £100,000 cut to Portman Early Years Centre

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Church Street’s Labour councillors petition against £100,000 cut to Portman Early Years Centre

By Westminster Labour ⋅ October 10, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
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Church Street’s three Labour Councillors, Ahmed Abdel-Hamid, Barbara Grahame and Aziz Toki have launched a petition to protest at the £100,000 cut from Portman Early Years Centre’s budget. The petition reads;

“We the undersigned call on Westminster City Council to review its decision to withdraw £100,000 from the Portman Early Years Centre budget this year with further cuts next year. Such a dramatic and large cut will do serious damage to vulnerable children and their families in Church Street Ward, one of the most disadvantaged wards in the country, at a time when more local families are facing economic hardship. We understand the need to make savings but it appears that the Portman Early Years Centre is being asked to make more savings than is either fair or just.”

Labour Councillors believe that this is the start of further cuts at the Portman Centre, with an additional £90,000 of cuts being threatened next year on top of the £100,000 cut.

Church Street Labour Councillor Barbara Grahame said: “There is no justification for this scale of cuts at the Portman Early Years Centre. The Portman Centre is right at the heart of Westminster’s children’s centre network, with 25% of all those accessing services in Westminster coming to the Portman. The Portman Centre’s budget should reflect this important role otherwise children and their parents will be turned away and will not get the vital support they need.”

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