THREATENED Sure Start children's centres in Hammersmith and Fulham were boosted with a funding pledge at a fiery council meeting last night.
Confusion filled Hammersmith Town Hall, in Kings Street, on Monday night as the cabinet backtracked on plans to curb funding to the centres.
Protesters and politicians flocked to revolt about plans to cut funding from the 15 centres, which offer healthcare and childcare, in the borough.
The cuts were outlined in a legal and publicly-accessible H&F meeting agenda document which said the council could only afford to fund six of the centres because of reductions in Government grants.
But in a dramatic twist, H&F cabinet members backtracked on the plans, promised to keep funding all the centres and pledged to even to open a new one.
Councillor Helen Binmore, cabinet member for children's services, said: "The thinking has moved on and they will get funding. We are not looking to remove funding from nine centres and we are looking to keep them all open and even open another one.
"No decisions are being made about the future of children's services and a consultation will now commence."
Cllr Binmore went on to confirm that the council still need to cut £3.2m from her department's budget and that 50 full-time jobs would be made redundant.
The announcement was met with confusion and derision by the 100 protesters who forced the meeting to be moved from the council chamber to a larger hall.
They included Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter and Shadow Children and Families Minister Sharon Hodgson who angrily heckled for the "inaccurate" report to be withdrawn.
A flustered cabinet were grilled for 50 minutes by Labour opposition councillors who were baffled by the council presenting an official document to be voted on before branding it out-of-date.
Labour leader Stephen Cowan accused the cabinet of using 'propoganda' and pressed them hard on how they would be able to keep care standards high with £3.2m less to spend.
He said: "We are going to see a £3.2m cut and I can't see how the 10,000 vulnerable children in the borough are going to get the same service at the same standard and speed.
"This looks like a cut with spin attached to it and we are not getting any of the answers."
The council were equally vague about when a public consultation on the provision of children's services would begin saying only it would start "immediately" and end "after about a month".
After the meeting, a stunned Mr Slaughter said: "This council is in denial. I have never seen anything like this. The report is flawed and should have been withdrawn.
"It looks as though they have been caught out trying to cut centres and hoping no-one would notice at a quiet time of year. And now it seems they have made up a consultation in a hope to appease residents. It is baffling."
George Robbie, 37, whose daugter Manta, two, goes to Sure Start in Melcombe Place, in Hammersmith, came out the meeting asking: "Is this normal? Sure Start centres are a fantastic way to help parents and our daughter would be very lonely if she could not go there.
"The staff are amazing and it is a service which should be supported and not threatened in this way."
Mrs Hogdson blasted the council's decision to slash £3.2m from their children's services budget and insisted they could be setting a dangerous national precedent.
She said: "This is a Tory Council and David Cameron's flagship Tory Council. They don't have to target the most vulnerable people. This is an ideological choice. If this is the way the rest across the country will go then woe-betide us all."
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