Enfield Council is running a consultation on proposed consolidation of children's centre services which would end the provision of these services at Hazelwood and Raynham schools.
Enfield Council currently has five children's centre sites in the borough, offering a limited range of support services and activities for families with children under five years of age. The children's centres provide services in collaboration with speech and language therapists, health visitors, local hospital maternity services, perinatal mental health services, domestic abuse support, Citizen’s Advice, and social work teams.
In the face of severe budgetary pressure, the council is proposing consolidating the services provided by the centres and maximising use of the two new youth and family hubs, at Ponders End and Craig Park, that were opened within the past year. This would involve ceasing hosting children's centre services, support and activities at two schools: Hazelwood in Palmers Green and Raynham in Edmonton. Services would continue at De Bohun, Eldon and Carterhatch schools.
In relation to Hazelwood School, a report prepared in July for the cabinet member for children's services states:
15. There is a limited room capacity at Hazelwood School so the site currently offers limited activities.
16. As part of this proposed change Enfield Children’s Centre will have access to additional local community-based sites, which could be used to deliver some of the displaced activities, depending on the outcome of the consultation.
17. Stopping delivery of Children’s Centre activities from a chargeable site and moving some activities to non-chargeable sites will reduce service delivery costs by approximately £8,000.
Parents are invited to respond to an online consultation which has been running since 27th November with a deadline of 7th February 2025. It asks about how parents currently use the centres and about their views on the proposals.