Council-Run Children’s Service Recommended for Closure: After Previous Decision was Delayed....

OSCARS, Hartlepool Borough Councils childcare service looks set to be axed, after a previous decision to end the service was delayed earlier this year...

29th November 2024

The future of a Council operated service, which has provided after-school and holiday care for children aged 3 to 16, looks set to be axed, after its been found that Council officials are now recommending its closure to stem any further financial losses....

Earlier this year, Councillors deferred a decision to close OSCARS’ The council operated care service, which was once hailed as a vital lifeline for working families.

Operating at a loss for several years & is struggling to stay afloat Council report says...

Council reports say the service has been operating at a financial loss for several years, according to documents seen by HBC Exposed. The report also states that a noticeable decline in uptake, compounded by changes in the education and childcare landscape has left the service struggling to stay afloat, necessitating a need for the council to decide upon its fate to stem any further financial losses..

The decision to delay the closure of the service earlier this year reportedly come after the council was said to be "looking at alternative solutions" in a bid to prevent the closure of the service, with the decision to close the scheme said to have been deferred until November this year. A source told HBC Exposed that the council’s upcoming Neighbourhood Services Committee set to meet on December 12th will reportedly seal OSCARS’ fate and the service culled once and for all.

No Viable Solutions to save the council run service

In a last ditch effort to save the service in the months the council deferred the decision, & despite claims the council were even prepared to allow an external 3rd party to run the service, its claimed no viable solution was found to save the council run service, with efforts to market the service more aggressively following its move to The Golden Flatts Primary School failing to attract any significant numbers to the council operated service.

Our source close to the council this week told HBC Exposed that "To put it bluntly, OSCARS is haemorrhaging money".

This year alone, the service incurred an £18,000 deficit— albeit down from a £46,000 loss the year before—but still unsustainable.

Attendance numbers tell a similar story, where between April and June, daily attendance hovered between 11 and 13 children, and holiday care attracted just 21 children at Easter and 15 during May half-term.

A Tough Decision having to be made...

The closure of the council run service looks to be almost certain, after a report going to a council committee next week is recommending it be axed..

Council officers are said to have highlighted a broader trend affecting OSCARS, with shifts in how parents access childcare. With other providers stepping in and parental preferences changing, its claimed OSCARS has now become less of a necessity. Yet, closing the service will reportedly pose challenges for the families who rely on it, where its claimed the council will support affected families by helping them find alternative childcare options, but for many, it really does feel like too little, too late.

Tough Decisions are now unavoidable, council finance chiefs claim

Council Chiefs see the closure of OSCARS as a necessary step in addressing Hartlepool Borough Councils wider budget crisis, where officers are stressing that tough decisions are now 'unavoidable' in terms of the services having to be culled in order to stem a projected ten to thirteen million pound budget deficit over the next three financial years.

For some local residents however, especially working families who depended on OSCARS, this feels like yet another service being lost, another convenience sacrificed & people once again asking the question.

Just wheres all the money going at Hartlepool Borough Council ?