A High Court judge has ruled that Labour-run Ealing Council acted lawfully in its decision to close or repurpose 10 children’s centres across the borough, dismissing a legal challenge brought by parents of a two year-old.
The case was heard over two days on 24 and 25 February 2026, with the decision made on 15 April 2026 and published on 16 April 2026.
The judicial review claim, brought by the parents on behalf of a young child and supported by the Save Ealing Children’s Centres (SECC) campaign, argued Ealing Council’s decision-making process was flawed and risked reducing access to vital early years services. However, the court found the decision to be lawful on all grounds.
Among the centres planned for closure are Acton (Maples), Ealing (Hathaway and Log Cabin), Greenford (Windmill), Northolt (Northolt Park) and Southall (Grove, Windmill and Greenfields). Copley Close in Hanwell and Academy Gardens in Northolt are also set to be de-designated.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Kimblin rejected claims that the council had failed to consult properly, ruling that the budget process “was not a thing that was done which required prior consultation” at that stage. He also found the consultation generated a “two-way flow of information” and prompted “many articulate and intelligent responses”, leading to changes in the proposals.
The judge further concluded the council, which spent £60,400 legal costs in defending the claim, had met its statutory duties, stating the claimant had “identified no obvious logical error nor mistake of fact which would permit this court to intervene”.
Clare Welsby, speaking on behalf of SECC, said the group was “very disappointed” by the outcome, while acknowledging the high legal threshold required in such cases.
She said: “A judicial review is a difficult claim to bring, as it has to be shown that there is unlawfulness rather than unreasonableness in the decision making.”
The case followed months of opposition to the plans, approved by Ealing Councl in June 2025 as part of a wider restructuring of early help services. Campaigners had sought to overturn the decision through consultation responses, scrutiny meetings, protests and appeals to councillors and MPs before pursuing legal action.
Ms Welsby said campaigners remained unconvinced the changes would improve services.
She said: “Ealing Council claim their decision will increase access for children and families to children’s centre services through outreach and extended hours at the remaining centres. We maintain that the better way of improving the provision is to keep the centres open but to consider ways of improving access and engagement.”
Ms Welsby added it “remains to be seen if services will actually improve as a result of these closures”, and confirmed the parent involved is taking legal advice on a possible appeal.
Councillor Jonathan Oxley, Ealing Liberal Democrat portfolio lead on children services, told EALING.NEWS: “The Liberal Democrats are hugely disappointed for the parents of the two-year-old who brought the appeal against the decision by Ealing’s Labour council to close her children’s centres.”
He added: “The Liberal Democrats are committed to reversing all the closures of children’s centres if we win the local council election on 7 May. This is a fully costed pledge in our manifesto. We appeal to Ealing’s residents to turn out and vote out this discredited Labour council and save our children’s centres.”
Craig Smith, leader of Ealing Community Independents, described the ruling as a “devastating blow” for families. He said: “These closures will hit vulnerable children the hardest and tear away vital community infrastructure that has supported families across Ealing for years. The council may have won in court, but they have lost the trust and confidence of local parents.”
Despite the ruling, SECC said it would continue to monitor the council’s delivery of its “Early Help” commitments and hold the authority to account.
A spokesperson for Ealing Council said: “The council’s priority is to ensure that families can access appropriate early help support across the borough, whether that’s through children’s centres or other community venues, depending on what best meets the needs of families and young people.
“We welcome the High Court’s judgment. More than 2,000 residents took part in the consultation on the Improved Early Help Offer, and their feedback helped shape the decision. We are pleased that this has been recognised by the court.
“The legal challenge has been a costly and time-consuming process, and our plans to improve early help services were paused as a result. We can now resume the work needed to implement the changes.”
