MP accuses Council of closing Sure Start to beat Court ruling

H&F stand accused by MP Andy Slaughter of undermining a legal action intended to stop the closure of a Sure Start centre, the day before it is heard in court, by locking parents and their children out a week earlier than the Council had previously said they would close.

A mother from Cathnor Park Children’s centre applied to the High Court for Judicial review of the council decision to cut the centre’s funding, asking the court to declare it illegal. Nine centres across theborough were due to close on July 1st, but when the council heard about the impending legal action, it pre-empted the court’s decision by closing Cathnor Park last week.

According to Mr Slaughter, who was with the families, padlocks on doors greeted families yesterday when they turned up who then, according to Mr Slaughter, made cards for the staff both to thank them for having been looked after and also to say sorry that they were losing their jobs, thanks to the Sure Start cuts being made by the Council.

It will be interesting to see how the Courts respond to this move by our Council when they hear the case today.