Bleak Christmas for Bond Road Children

I have enclosed a press release from from my colleague Maxi Martin, when it comes to Bond Road it is certainly not the season of goodwill from Merton Tories, that is unless they change their mind on the closure this side of Christmas.

Labour Councillor Maxi Martin is continuing to champion the plight of children at the Bond Road Early Years Centre, to be closed as part of the Tories’ budget cuts. She has called on the Tories, in the spirit of Christmas, to remove this proposed cessation of service to some of the most vulnerable and needy children in Merton

At a meeting of the Council’s Scrutiny Committee in November, Officers and Tory Councillors stated categorically that five new children’s centres would be open by March 2007 and would be able to take the children from Bond Road. However, in a written response to a Council question, it has now been confirmed by Officers that only ONE new centre will be open in November 2007 – and there is no guarantee that it will be fully operational from the outset or will be able to offer the full range of services Bond Road provides.

Cllr Maxi Martin, Labour Spokesperson for Children, said: “We shouldn’t be playing with children’s lives like this. I don’t understand why we were told that 5 centres would be open by March 2007 when the Project Timetable indicates that only one is scheduled to be opened in November 2007– and we’ve no idea what services it will offer and from when. I call on the Tories to show some compassion this Christmas and to cancel any plans to close the Early Years Nursery provision at Bond Road. That would be a great Christmas present for these kids and their families.”