REDUNDANCIES among 300 children’s centre staff across the area – including Keighley district – are part of plans to make savings of £2.4 million in the next year, it has emerged.

But Bradford Council has revealed none of its 41 children’s centres will be shut down as part of its cost-cutting measures, ending more than a year of uncertainty about their futures.

A major shake-up of how the centres are run will go before the council’s executive committee on Tuesday.

Although all the centres will remain open in one form or another, some will no longer provide their current services, operating as “delivery sites” rather than Ofsted-registered children’s centres. And some of these will likely be run by either charity groups or schools.

About 300 people currently work in the district’s centres, which offer services to young children and their families.

Each centre has its own management committee, but under the council’s latest plans all will be lumped into one of seven clusters, drastically cutting down on management level staff.

Initially, the council had planned to reduce the number of centres to 27, but after a huge outpouring of public opposition, and a stay of execution in the form of a one-off grant from the Schools Forum to keep the centres open, officers went back to the drawing board and came up with the latest proposals. A further public consultation in the summer led to the latest plans.

The nine units that would no longer be Ofsted-registered Sure Start children’s centres – instead becoming delivery sites where certain services are provided, but at a reduced level – include Daisy Chain in Silsden and Treetops in Haworth.

Michael Jameson, strategic director of children’s services, said: “This is less of a focus on buildings and where they are located and more about services families value and need.

“These seven clusters will combine resources and deliver the outcomes we want to achieve.”

Cllr Ralph Berry, executive member for children’s services, said: “The priorities are the front line and not on managerial overheads.”

But Tory MP Philip Davies – whose Shipley constituency includes Cullingworth and Denholme – has condemned the plans, claiming the Labour-ruled council is “only interested in its central Bradford heartlands”.

He added: “It downgrades the children’s centres in the parts of the district that contribute most in council tax.”