AS Devon County Council's cost-cutting spotlight shines on the county's children's centres, council representatives have claimed that services in Okehampton and Hatherleigh could remain largely unchanged. The county council has begun public consultation on proposals to re-think the way children's centre services are delivered across Devon. A proposal to re-tender children's centre contracts, based on Devon's eight district and city council boundaries, aims to help reduce management and administration cost, while protecting local services targeting those most in need and in rural communities. The consultation has been set up in the wake of more cost cutting from the county council. Over the last five years, the budget for the county's children's centre services has been reduced by £1.5-million, around 15% of its total. In the next three years, the £8.6-million currently being spent on the service is to reduce again, by a further 15% — £1.2-million. The first consultation meeting was held in Okehampton on Monday morning. Representatives from Devon County Council were joined by staff from West Devon's children's centres, parents and other stakeholders interested in hearing about the proposals. Key issues including inclusivity, accessibility of rural outreach services, and the importance of providing a welcoming environment for vulnerable families were among those discussed. The proposals would continue to provide a number of children's centres in each area while ensuring outreach services are made available in rural areas. These could be delivered from a variety of locations and community buildings in partnership with other local service providers such as health, adult learning and Job Centre Plus. At this stage, no firm plans have been made on exactly how children's centre services in West Devon will change under the proposals. Council representatives stressed that services in the borough may well remain largely unchanged, with the Okehampton and Hatherleigh centres already fitting the model suggested by the proposals. The fact that the borough's three centres in Okehampton, Hatherleigh and Tavistock are already all run by Barnardo's should also ease the re-tendering of the individual contracts into one contract for the borough. Sue Clarke, head of education and learning in Devon, said: 'In many ways the service run in Okehampton is a model of what is being looked at across the county. The hub and outreach model is something we are very much looking to do. The service here is in the community, taking services out to families, where families want them. We want to focus on people, rather than places. We want to put our money into services, not buildings. We need to be looking more creatively and protect what we've got. 'The role that children's centres play are absolutely key and remain a priority, and there will be no compromise on children's centres. The priority is families reaching their services and using our diminishing resources on the right services, not infrastructure and admin.' 'There is genuinely no set decision, the opinions of parents and families are the priority. We want to hear from stakeholders, and what they want – and make sure families and parents are at the heart of that consultation process.' Val Smith, the head of early years and children's centres in Devon, said: 'The model being suggested by proposals is one that has always been in place in West Devon. It is unusual to have children's centres in such close proximity. However, I don't foresee too much difference in the future for West Devon. Centre buildings will remain in places of high need.' Cllr James McInnes, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Children and Young People's Services, and county councillor for Hatherleigh and Chagford, said: 'We know that children's centres and associated services are vitally important to help support families across Devon. 'We remain fully committed to delivering high quality, multi-agency services for children under five and particularly to those families in greatest need. 'We will continue to support the delivery of local services, either directly from children's centres or through a range of outreach services but given the current financial situation things simply can't stay the same and we have to think again about the best way to provide this support to families for less money. 'Clearly some efficiencies can be made in the way we contract for these services. But this review offers a genuine opportunity not only to protect children's centres into the future but also to redesign current services to better meet local needs across the county, including in rural areas. 'I would encourage everyone to give us their views and to put forward their own ideas or suggestions on how best we can continue to provide and improve these important services.' There will be a further consultation meeting for parents of children attending West Devon's centres in the Ockment Centre, Okehampton on Monday, May 19 from 1.30pm to 3pm. Parents and carers are welcome to drop into the session at any time to ask questions and find out more about the proposals. Full details of the proposals and consultation events can be found online at http://www.devon.gov.uk">www.devon.gov.uk /toughchoices with the six week consultation set to end by June 6. A final re-commendation on the future of the service will be considered by Devon County Council's cabinet on July 9.