Under-threat family hub centres Seashells in Sheppey and Millmead at Margate will learn their fate next week

by Simon Finlay, Local Democracy Reporter

Under-threat family and children’s services at two centres in Kent will have to wait until next week to find out if they face the axe.

The futures of Seashells at Sheerness and Millmead in Margate now hang in the balance until March 13 at Kent County Council’s full members’ meeting.

The authority’s cabinet was expected to “confirm, amend or rescind” the decommissioning of family hub provision at the centres.

Instead, the council’s top table yesterday (March 4) “progressed” the issue to all members when full information will be available.

Conservative KCC leader Roger Gough argued that it would be wrong to “pre-empt” the debate next week.

Independent member for Sheppey Mike Whiting said KCC had “kicked the can down the road a little bit longer”.

Margate Cllr Barry Lewis, who had led the campaign to save the services at Millmead, said: “Looks like they bottled it. I hope (Conservative) members will be allowed a free vote next week.”

Margate KCC councillor Barry Lewis outside the centre at Millmead which is threatened with closure

By decommissioning the services at Seashells and Millmead, the council hopes to shave around £425,000 from its budget.

KCC claims the same services are to be made available at other centres nearby but critics say they are too far away for existing users to access and may not be ready in time.

The contracts are due to run out at the end of the month.

The authority has been under severe financial strain for some years and is faced with having to make tens of millions of pounds in savings in order to balance the books.

KCC says it has faced soaring costs, particularly in the area of adult social care, but does not receive sufficient funding from central government to pay the bills.

Seashells CEO Jim Duncan, Kate Townsend Blazier and local KCC councillor Mike Whiting

The council announced officially on January 17 services at both centres would be decommissioned.

That decision was later called in by the powerful scrutiny committee where a Tory revolt forced the cabinet to rethink its decision in light of some new data which appeared to throw doubt on KCC’s reasons.

Cllr Whiting added: “The scrutiny committee clearly referred it to full council and I guess that’s what’s happened. They could have made the recommendation today but they didn’t so I suppose that is positive.

“The question is whether the Tories whip their members to back the cabinet.”