Ealing Leader Defends the Closure of Children's Centres
Says young people in care were not accessing the services
Peter Mason (left) and Claire Welsby (right) “disappointed though not surprised” at the leader’s comment
December 31, 2025
Ealing Council’s leader has insisted that his Cabinet is not contradicting the national government in closing 10 children centres in the borough. In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS], Councillor Peter Mason, Leader of Ealing Council, discussed his perspective on the issue which has raised concerns among many of the borough’s parents this year.
Legal action has now been launched against Ealing Council, challenging the decision to close 10 children’s centres in the borough. The council has indicated its intention to fight the judicial review in court.
In July, the government announced plans for family hubs, which will act as a one-stop shop for advice, support and early intervention, as part of plans to “give children the best start in life”. We’ve broken down all of Cllr Mason’s reasons for the policy, and why he doesn’t think he is contradicting the Labour government.
During the interview, Cllr Mason describes a “terrible situation” whereby many children in care have never accessed the council’s current early help service. He goes on to say that some of the children’s centres being closed do not provide a wide enough range of services – such as midwifery or play services.
He makes clear that the council believes this is an unsustainable situation, and that the solution – closing 10 centres and providing “outreach services” – will allow for more children who need support to access it.
When asked whether this ‘lack of services’ provided at centres is the reason many children do not access the service, he didn’t answer directly, instead justifying the closures with ‘years of real term budget cuts’.
Cllr Mason said, “If we hadn’t have had £140 million in real terms taken out of our budget over the last 16 years, then perhaps councils, not just Ealing, but ones right across London and the rest of the country would have the ability to deliver even more services to young people and to families. And that’s exactly what the government’s plan is.”
It is therefore his view that due to council analysis, which shows many children in care had not accessed the children’s centres, that they are not cost-effective. Therefore, as Ealing Council would put it, an alternative had to be devised.
According to the Institute for Government, councils across London and the UK experienced an almost 25 per cent cut in spending power between 2010/11 and 2019/20 – which it says is a result of coalition cuts to local government grant funding. According to Cllr Mason, this is something that the council has considered when making this decision.
He says that in the almost 16 years since 2010, successive administrations have ‘focused on buildings and not services’ – something he repeats a few times. It is his position that in keeping 20 children’s centres open at that time meant the council had prioritised the wrong things.
He added, “It’s partially a consequence of the last 16 years of austerity, where having started with over 20 children’s centres, the priority of previous administrations was to focus on buildings and not services. And we’ve spent an awful lot of money in keeping the lights on, keeping the heating on, on keeping the doors open.”
However, shortly after he explains that all closed children’s centres buildings are staying. He explains that the buildings will be continued to be used for the purposes of supporting young people, and insists that the council will provide additional services in these buildings.
So in a sense, the “children’s centres” are ceasing operations from their current buildings, as, according to Cllr Mason, too much money has been spent on keeping the lights on, and services can be improved by reaching out to communities. But, the buildings – in which too much has been spent keeping the lights on – will stay open… just with different services.
He added, “We’re not closing anything, we’re changing the services that are offered in buildings and we’re enhancing the offer that we can make to families. To support them better, to manage the challenges they face”
As part of the new early years offer proposed, Ealing Council intends to provide more services “in the community”, at community venues such as libraries and places of worship. The LDRS asked Cllr Mason how the council believes this will help to find those who already aren’t accessing the council’s services.
He said, “You’ve got to bear in mind that look, a council has a limited amount of resource at any given point, and it’s got to be doing the right thing at the right time in the right places.” He then describes Sure Start as groundbreaking, however insists that challenges have developed since then.
He describes the current provision of services in children’s centres as “intimidating”, particularly for those “fearful of authorities” who currently have to walk into a council building to access support.
He added, “Too often, the public sector expects people to come to it rather than going to people. We can sometimes create hostile environments that people want to stay away from…
“We have to get people into the spaces in which they feel comfortable, in playgrounds, in libraries… going out, reaching and spotting challenges where they exist… so that people know that help is on offer, that it’s a non-judgemental service, that it doesn’t involve people being fearful that their kids are going to be taken away from them.”
Campaigners have long argued that the policy of this Labour council is at odds with the Labour government. Plans outlined by the Education Secretary in July say that ‘family hubs’ will be set up through either reconfiguring existing children’s centres or setting up new sites.
The new family hubs will enable parents to “benefit from greater support to make family life easier on their doorstep.. relieving pressure on parents and giving more children the very best start in life” according to the government.
These will roll out in every council area from April 2026 offering interventions and courses which help parents – such as stay and play groups – while providing a “single point of access for services across health, education, and wellbeing”.
However, at the same time, Ealing Council is closing 10, arguing that they are not fit for purpose, and that by expecting parents to come to government buildings for support the public sector can create a hostile environment. All whilst the government seeks to open these hubs – often in children centre buildings.
When asked how he would respond to claims that the council’s policy is a contradiction of the national government, he doesn’t directly answer, and instead explains all the reasons outlined above as why it is a necessary policy.
Following the interview, we put all of the points raised by Cllr Mason to Save Ealing Children’s Centres, a campaign group fighting the closures. Claire Welsby told the LDRS that campaigners are “disappointed though not surprised” by the Leader’s comments.
She said: “Thousands of parents and members of the public have a very different perspective on Ealing’s Children’s Centres evidenced by the public consultation and petitions to the council asking them not to close or repurpose these much valued, safe and welcoming local centres in their communities…
“If there are more children and families to be reached the council should be building on these foundations as the Best Start guidance states – councils should maintain and build on existing children’s centres with the addition of the new Family Hubs vision and funding. They should not be cutting it back so drastically. Families are really worried about these changes being forced through…
“However, looking forward to the new year Save Ealing Children’s Centres can confirm that the High Court have given permission for the case against Ealing Council challenging their decision to close or repurpose 10 of Ealing’s Children’s Centres to proceed to a full judicial review hearing. The claim has been brought by a young child, supported by their parent as litigation friend.
“The court have agreed that the grounds of claim that were presented to them are arguable, and have also recognised the urgency of hearing this case. It is hoped this hearing will take place before March 2026.”
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |