A campaign to save Elm Park Children’s Centre from potential closure is set to see a petition with more than 250 signatures presented to Havering Council. 

The petition, which is to appear before a full council meeting on January 18, was handed to Cllr Matthew Stanton (Lab, Beam Park) by Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Dagenham and Rainham, Margaret Mullane, who described children’s centres as providing “essential support” for parents. 

The campaign is in response to a proposal by the authority to close several centres in the borough, included in its public consultation on its 2023/24 budget. 

As well as Elm Park, Chippenham Road and Hilldene Children’s Centres are also proposed to be shut, which the council says would save it around £1.1million. 

The consultation, which ended on December 31, was launched last year as the council looked for ways to claw back savings due to a projected overspend of more than £60m over the next four years. 

Havering has since announced it has been able to cut its estimated budget gap for this financial year from £19m to £14m, though issues remain. 

The current Dagenham and Rainham MP, Jon Cruddas, who is stepping down at the next election, recently wrote to council leader Ray Morgon and chief executive Andrew Blake-Herbert opposing the centre’s potential closure. 

After handing the petition to Cllr Stanton, Ms Mullane said: “Children’s centres are essential support for so many parents and are important for the development of children in their early years.  

“I have listened to the parents whose children attend the Elm Park Children’s Centre and depend on its services and know that its loss would be a massive blow for the community. So, I join those parents in calling for Havering Council to look again at their budget and keep open the centre.” 

Cllr Stanton added the Labour party in Havering views the centre as “a key part of our efforts to help children and adults thrive and improve their lives. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our residents in fighting to protect services”. 

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A Havering Council spokesperson said: “The budget consultation, which has now closed, put forward a proposal to close three of our children’s centres including the centre in Elm Park.

“It also includes Chippenham Road and Hilldene, both of which were closed during the pandemic and were not re-opened. We were able to successfully transfer services to other local locations.

“If this proposal is taken forward, we will look at how we can continue to support parents and families, using alternative centres, such as community hubs and other buildings.

“The results of the consultation will be used to inform any decisions taken when budget planning for the next financial year.”