Dane Valley Residents Association has joined the campaign to save Millmead Children’s Centre.
Kent County Council wants to save £426,000 by not renewing contracts for commissioned services at Millmead centre and Seashells in Sheerness, when they end in March 2025. It is understood around £225,000 of that is funding for the centre at Dane Valley Road in Margate.
This sum is around half of the centre’s annual funding. The centre is funded in two, separate ways – the nursery (62 places) and community development and support (1104 people in June 2024).
The centre has 27 staff and seven volunteers whose roles are likely to be under threat.
The “pantry” at the rear where a foodbank and subscription food service operates from will also be at risk.
KCC says Millmead and Seashells are the only two externally commissioned Family Hubs in Kent. The council directly runs the rest of Kent’s Family Hub provision.
A consultation on the future of the services has been launched. This only relates to the services provided under the commissioned contract for KCC’s Children’s Services and not the closure of the buildings themselves.
In Dane Valley posters have been printed for shop and home windows and association members, centre manager Jan Collins and county councillor Barry Lewis are going door to door to explain the situation and how people can take part in the consultation.
Cllr Barry Lewis said: “The residents in the local community have reacted with anger and dismay. We are arranging door to door discussions to encourage people to fill out the consultation.
“Local shops are putting up the posters which have been donated via a generous donation from a local celebrity who wants to remain anonymous.
“The best way to fill out the consultation is online but given the situation of some people who do not have internet access, we are encouraging them to come into the Millmead centre to collect paper copies.
“The community is of one that these vital children’s services from a centre serving the community for more than 20 years should remain to help people survive and have a healthy life.”
Anyone wanting further details or help can contact Dane Valley Residents Association on [email protected] or [email protected] of see the Dane Valley Matters facebook page
Have your say
The consultation will run until 22 September.
For full details of the proposal and to have your say visit: www.kent.gov.uk/familyhubsconsultation
For queries or requests for hard copies, email [email protected]
For alternative formats, email [email protected] or call 03000 421553 (text relay service number 18001 03000 421553).
Cllr Lewis.
On other versions of this story you’ve quoted various numbers for the amount of uses this centre has & said that the figures are audited by KCC.
I repeat my question to you as you will have access to the audit results.
In the last financial year, how many individuals used the service provided by the Family Hub?
Just the Family Hub. Not the centre as a whole.
Contact kcc or millmead centre, the centre cannot survive without kcc funding so sub total s are relevant to issue obviously
On the contrary, I consider this to be most relevant.
If the £225,000 KCC are looking to save by not duplicating services is the only thing keeping this centre open, then this money essentially amounts to a subsidy to the centre.
Knowing the number of individuals this money helps would give a better idea if continued funding with public money would be better overall.
When any helpful information is not readily made available unfortunately doubt and possibly wrong conclusions will always be drawn.
Are NOT relevant obviously
Now he won’t answer the questions that must be because the place is not value for money and is under preforming. So many different numbers given and all are not correct. Why not close the place and maybe reopen as an old people’s care home or just flatten it.
Lack of information and transparency by councils (local and country) and government is cause of so much distrust in both.
So Barry, why can’t you give the information requested?
Jane – Mr Lewis is a very poor example of local politicians- he is ignoring genuine questions regarding this centre which would enlighten the public. He gives the impression of hiding something regarding figures of use which is not good for either the centre or its staff. Local Labour Party and transparency do not appear to be bedfellows.
You will not get anything from Barry Lewis ,I have asked on 3 occasions about the flooding on St Peter’s road ,all I got was, call him ,I don’t want to speak to him, just a reply stating what is going on about the flooding .An email stating this will be easy
Ray, phone me,i want more information,not an vague emat message
Oh the irony.
You want more information & not vague messages.
Go into the millmead centre and ask to see last year’s annual report if you want full details.
Mr Lewis – you still do not get it with such a post. You must have the correct figures and why should I go to the centre and bother the staff who will have far more important things to do. Again, you have not done yourself any favours regarding this situation with the centres.
I can’t wait to see the coverage and photos of the 3 mile pram push if it takes place.
How the inability of users of this centre to walk 3 miles with a pram will help their cause in any possible manner eludes me.
A positive spin by the reporting team will take some creative writing. I wish you well.
3 miles in there cars then park up and walk a few metres to the centre. So few walk with prams it’s all made up . Sit outside and count them daily and you will see the facts. But that would show how under used this place is. Not rocket science but labour councillors are not able to do it, there attitude is we know what people want
Yes, another example as to the poor state of UK politics, the colour of the rosette makes no difference its still a case of dogmatic ideology and misleading statements/info to try and force through whatever the politician in question feels is the right thing. They won’t let a few simple facts abd figures get in the way, just another example of how they’re totally detached from too much of the electorate and why the UK vote’s poor government out rather than good in.
Councillor Lewis is patently aware that the real numbers in this case don’t make any real economic sense , but has no real argument to the contrary and so just makes numbers up and then gathers new ones that don’t really tell us anything in particular and ignores reasonable questions, his refusal to seek data that would be well within his gift is just pathetic. It’s easy to get support from those getting something for nothing a little harder from those who want value for money.
Tactical Grace – a very well structured post which does sum up nicely some local politicians. Mr Lewis is unfortunately a case in point. I am still waiting for his view on my suggestion that reducing KCC Councillors ‘allowance ‘ by £5000 each would go a very long way to funding the shortfall in funding for these centres. His silence is deafening having had ample time to respond and, I assume, he is reluctant to reduce his income, which incidentally is more than my OAP per year.
Mr. Lewis sees nothing wrong in unrestricted spending on those he considers worthy no matter how much a burden it places elsewhere.
It should be remembered that tax payers are having their pockets silently picked by fiscal drag yet those on benefits continue to them uprated.
Increases in benefits compounded from 2020 -24 inclusive give an increase over that period of 23.8%, i’m not sure how many workers have managed these increases, but to make it worse the tax allowance bands have not changed in that period and are currently frozen until 2028.
Surely any government that feels those receiving help need their income uprating the very least workers should expect are the tax allowances/bands to increase similarly.
Should that fiscal drag remain and benefits increase by 3% per annum over the same period , beneits will have risen by 40% 2020-28 , but we’ll all start paying tax at the same £12570, that’s before you include extra pickpocketing via council tax. So the levelling down agenda was started by the tories and looks to be continued by labour.
Of course we’ll be told endlessly about poverty but yet again politicians will make the waters murky by mixing relative, absolute and “real” poverty into the numbers to make it incomprehensible to real people.
Nowhere in those numbers will there be a mention of the hidden value those in social housing have , by being protected from housing inflation both in terms of purchase maintenance/ repair/ insurance others need to fund.
The blatant dishonesty in it all is rife across the board.
To my trollls, next may there will be county council elections,i hope you put your views to the test and stand against me and let the public decide, that’s democracy.
To my TROLLS, I hope you have enough confidence in your views to put your ideas to the public next may there will county council election, i will standing again in Margate, I politely invite you stand against me, it costs nothing to do so . Its called democracy which i hope you believe in.
Mr Lewis – you have started repeating yourself! Still not answering polite enquires. Now resorting to stand against you in elections. Just answer questions or in my case give a view. Everyone would be happy.
I very much fear the type of democracy where an elected public servant finds the request for reasonable and relevant information provocative and offensive (trolling).
Your continued refusal to give this freely has saddened me some what and made me question decisions I’ve made in the past. At the very least you have been evasive and verging on obstructive.
Consequently you will not receive my continued support at the next election.
I still fail to understand the reasoning behind your decision to keep relevant figures secret and it’s such a shame that it has taken focus away from the plight of your campaign.
You have a very arrogant manner.
All you have to do is answer the questions asked.
It is public money we are talking about
not yours, so should be open and transparent and in the public domain.
You as a Kent County Councillor should know that.
By not answering, it throws out all sorts of doubts.
I given the answer but you refuse to listen, fed up b. As for councillors allowances decisions are Not made by councillors but independent panels as most people are aware of.
No, you’ve given 3 answers so far, only 1 of which has any sort of provenance, ( the other two seem to have been figments of your imagination) however that number refers only to “15810 going through the doors in one year” which is all well and good , but gives no idea as to how many of those people are using the services LCC are proposing to offer elsewhere.
As a result there are those (myself included) who before deciding if KCC’s proposal is reasonable would lie to know some more detailed information. You’re banging the drum for the centre and so providing figures would surely be in your and the centres interest , assuming of course the take up of the services is sufficient to justify the expenditure to the extent that alternative measures should be put in place.
You want to convince people the savings are insufficient for the harm the removal of the facility will incur, but expect us to take you on your word, which to date has been seen as more than a little errant , your arrogance and accusations thereafter again do not engender good feeling or inclination to trust what you say.
You’re a politician surely part of that role is to assist people in understanding matters rather than acting as some sort of demagogue.
Mr Lewis – your choice to draw allowance or not! As far as I am aware, you can decline the large allowance you get. I seem to remember you spouting off proudly that you would not accept an increase a few years ago. I am very disappointed in your reactions over the funding question for centres and your accusations regarding people being’Trolls or Bot’ when asking genuine question and being fobbed off by you. Disgraceful arrogant behaviour.
I refused the increase .
I now give any increase to local charities. I helped change the rules so that councillors allowances are decided independently by an independent panel . The allowance is about £45 a day and i do agree with you that the state pension should be much higher which is too low at £30 a day
Tactical grace, you are welcome to go into the centre and see the annual report which gives details of their operations.
But you are not prepared to give that information or provide a link? Why you surely must have it in order to be so sure that the proposal by KCC is to your mind unreasonable, or have you not bothered to actually look into the centres levels of use before throwing your hat in the ring?
You want people to rally to your cause but expect us to nelieve without question what you say even after it’s been pointed out that a figure you gave was little more than a casual guess, why would anyone trust you to do anything on such a basis. Do you not see that such behaviour is hardly becoming someone that has influence over the lives of others and spends money raised through taxes with seemingly no interest that real value for money is achieved. You may have momey to squander ,many others do not and expect you and the councils to spend it as wisley as possible, replicating services for no good reason doesn’t fall into that category.