| SPOTLIGHT |
Hackney Council has decided to settle by consent a judicial review challenge relating to the proposed closure of two local children’s centres, days before the final hearing was due to take place.
According to law firm Rook Irwin Sweeney, the council consented to its public consultation on the closures being quashed, and to pay all the parties’ legal costs.
The judicial review was due to take place on 6 and 7 November at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The claimants, represented by Rook Irwin Sweeney, noted that closing the children’s centres (Fernbank and Sebright) would result in the loss of 129 affordable childcare places to Hackney families – a cut of a quarter of all subsidised nursery places in Hackney.
The council previously said it considered it necessary to achieve savings in the children’s service in order to reduce its overall funding gap.
The public consultation on the potential closures of Fernbank and Sebright began in January and closed on 24 April.
The claimants argued that as a result of flaws with the council’s consultation exercise, family members and other concerned parties were unable to properly respond to the changes being proposed.
The council thereby breached the second Gunning criteria, in “failing to provide consultees with sufficient information to make an intelligent response”, they suggested.
The claimants also argued that Hackney “positively misled” consultees regarding the necessity to make savings, and that it failed to consult on alternative available options.
However, the council announced yesterday (5 November) that it has decided to settle by consent the judicial review claim, following advice from its external legal advisors.
A spokesperson for Hackney said: “The council stands by the need to make changes to the way we provide subsidised childcare in order to make our early years provision more sustainable, as a result of rising costs, staffing challenges and overall financial pressures on local authorities.
“However in light of the advice we have received we do not believe it is in residents’ best interests to use any further resources to defend the legal challenge.
“We will take this opportunity to review our approach on how to make our early years provision more sustainable in the future, and present future plans as soon as it is practically possible.”
Lottie Winson
