Ealing’s Liberal Democrats have formally triggered a review of Labour-run Ealing Council’s decision to close or repurpose ten of the borough’s 25 children’s centres.
The controversial decision, taken by the council’s cabinet last week (11 June 2025), has provoked an outcry among local parents, childcare professionals and opposition councillors.
The Lib Dems have called in the decision using council powers to force further scrutiny. They hope the council’s overview and scrutiny committee, meeting next month (3 July 2025), will halt the closures and send the matter back to cabinet for reconsideration.
The proposed cuts would significantly reduce early years provision, with particular concern about the loss of services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Facilities at Hathaway and Log Cabin centres in Ealing, and Windmill in Greenford, are all under threat.
A community-led petition opposing the closures has attracted nearly 2,000 signatures, reflecting widespread concern over the future of family services in the borough. The campaign has already prompted a partial U-turn, with three centres now potentially spared.
Councillor Jonathan Oxley, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for children’s services, said: “Liberal Democrats say that Ealing Labour’s consultation on closing children centres has been shameful. They baked cost savings from closing them into their Council budget while the consultation was still open. Now they’re ignoring the overwhelming opposition from parents and childcare professionals in the consultation, by pressing on with their reckless policy of closing ten of our precious children centres.”
An Ealing Council spokesperson previously told EALING.NEWS: “Children’s centres provide vital services for families and are cornerstones of the community, but the current set up is not working. We have 25 centres, but despite increased demand for statutory children’s services, not all families who could benefit are using them.
“Supporting our most vulnerable residents is a top priority for us, and our aim with the children’s centres is to design a service more tailored to our families’ needs and move services into the community to better reach those who may need our help, while retaining the largest number of children’s centres in London.
“The goal is to reach more families, earlier, with better support, and while some centres will no longer operate in their current form, the services themselves are being enhanced, with all seven towns seeing an increase in children’s centre activity following the changes.
“We’ve worked closely with the community throughout this process, engaged with over 2,000 residents, and have adapted plans based on what we’ve heard. We remain open to ongoing dialogue with all community stakeholders.”
