Clare Welsby is a Green Party candidate standing in Hanwell Broadway in the Ealing Council local elections on 7 May 2026. She sets out her views.
“As a Green Party candidate for Hanwell Broadway, and an active campaigner as part of Save Ealing Children’s Centres campaign since early 2025; I, along with thousands of parents and families in Ealing, was very disappointed by the outcome of the Judicial Review at the High Court held on 24th and 25th February 2026. The claim was brought by a parent challenging Ealing Council’s decision last July to close ten children’s centres, acting on behalf of their young child. A judicial review is a difficult claim to bring, as it must be shown that there is ‘unlawfulness’ rather than ‘unreasonableness’ in the council’s decision making.
“Despite the court deciding that the council had acted lawfully in consulting on and arriving at this decision there remains a real concern for families and communities in Ealing that the decision was ‘unreasonable’, and this matters. The Green Party consider it unreasonable to persist in the face of such a huge local response against Ealing Council’s decision. In the council’s own words, the ‘vast majority’ of parents who responded to their consultation were against their decision. The court case came with significant legal costs to the council, when the council are cutting spending on valued services.
“In addition, the council still hasn’t debated the two petitions against the decision, each with over 2,000 signatures. These petitions were presented just before the council increased the threshold from 1,500 to over 3,600 petition signatures to enable a debate by full council in July last year.
Three centres were reprieved which is welcome but not the remaining ten which will now unless an appeal can be lodged – close. Two children’s centres have already had their contracts ended as of the beginning of April 2026.
I worked for Ealing Council for 15 years as a lead for children’s centres until 2021 and an additional 3 years in support of young people with additional needs (SEND). Having actively supported parents who were alarmed and extremely concerned about the council’s proposal in early 2025 to close (or repurpose – effectively close) half of the boroughs children’s centres: two routes were open to me.
The first was to become a spokesperson for SECC and support the decision of a parent, as a last resort after every avenue had been tried, to challenge the council’s decision in the High Court on behalf of the child.
Secondly, having experienced how difficult it was for the community to challenge the current Labour-led council, on this and the many other concerns, to stand myself as a candidate for election. As a Green Party member, I have been knocking on doors for many years, listening to residents, supporting local groups and assisting people where I could. I am very aware of residents’ disappointment and dissatisfaction with this current Labour majority council. Not being listened to, or communicated with, services being degraded and concerns at Labour’s policy direction locally and nationally.
Closure of so many children’s centres oversimplifies the issue too – Southall will still lose half of its centres, with most of the centres between the Uxbridge Road and Greenford now scheduled for closure, as well as centres in Central Ealing, Acton and Northolt. Labour rightly is credited with the positive impact SureStart had when introduced in 2003, but how much of that credit is still deserved as services have gradually been eroded over the following twenty years, and now this? Ealing Labour is even out of step with national policy which proposes a roll out of Best Start and Family Hubs that should maintain and build on existing children’s centres.
We need Green Party voices in the council, who will listen, act and work hard on behalf of residents – including monitoring how well the council will meet their promise to improve Early Help and services for our youngest children and their families when closing 10 children’s centres.
Full coverage of the Ealing Council local elections and candidates standing, can be found here.
