The Unite union, which is planning a rally to protest against the cuts, claims that the Conservative-led Coventry City Council is planning to slash more than £250,000 from the budget of its Children and Family Education Services department, which funds the out-of-school clubs, in the next financial year. A further £360,000 was cut from the Youth Service over the two years from 2007 to 2009.
Unite estimates that 22 full-time jobs are under threat. The union criticised the council for spending £64,000 on management consultants for a three-month review of its Youth Service.
News of the council's plans broke just one week after children's minister Beverley Hughes called on local authorities to do more to ensure out-of-school clubs are sustainable (News, 5 February).
A protest aimed at stopping the cuts, which could affect more than 6,000 primary school children, is to be held in Coventry on Saturday (14 February), and a petition has already attracted hundreds of signatures.
Doug Nicholls, national secretary for Unite, said, 'This will give the people of Coventry the chance to show their opposition to the cuts, which will hit some of the most vulnerable families and children in the community.'
A spokesperson for the council said, 'Coventry is the only local authority in the country currently providing this kind of service at 13 venues across the city. The after-school clubs are heavily subsidised, with parents paying 40 pence for a two-hour session which actually costs £18 for us to deliver. We delivered 19 play schemes at a cost to us of £18 a session for a total of 681 children over the summer holidays. Parents paid just 80 pence a session. We need to reallocate the resources used to subsidise these schemes to focus on the children in the city most at risk.'
However, at a scrutiny meeting last Wednesday (4 February), Labour councillor Dr Lynette Kelly accused the council of being 'disingenuous' for claiming that the funding would be reinvested.
Speaking after the meeting, Dr Kelly said, 'Only part of the funding is being reinvested and the overall budget has been reduced by £250,000. The council is misleading the public by trying to put that spin on it.
'The out-of-school clubs are in deprived areas where it is not safe for children to play outside. All of the after-school clubs based in schools are closing at Easter because the schools are not willing to take over the running of them. All the clubs in community centres are closing because of a lack of funds. The council has not even considered other options, such as increasing the price per session that parents pay.'
A decision about the funding is due to be made at Coventry council's budget meeting on 24 February.