PROPOSALS to slash Thurrock Council's children's services budget by £2.2million could see the closure of two nurseries and the loss of up to 13 jobs.

A meeting next week (Tuesday, 12 October) will hear a report by the interim assistant director of children's social care and early help which suggests ways in which her department can contribute to bridging the £34 million funding gap faced by the council over the next two years.

Janet Simon, sitting in the £100,000+ a year role, will tell members of the children's services overview and scrutiny committee she believes the council can slash £1.2 million from its budget.

And a second report from Michele Lucas, assistant director of education and skills and another to draw a six figure pay packet from the authority, says that cutting two council-run nurseries in the borough will contribute to saving another million.

The nurseries are not named but, as Thurrock Nub News exclusively reported last week, the council has just launched an online consultation project, albeit with little promotion, on the futures of the Little Pirates and Neptune nurseries it runs in Tilbury, prompting local fears they face the axe.

The report of Ms Lucas says: "If, when the consultation exercise is completed we are unable to identify an alternative provider for the nurseries, then we would need to consider the closure of this service."

She adds the overhaul of education and skills will save £1million and includes a review of home to school transport. This includes students who access post-16 special educational needs transport.

The report of Ms Simon outlines a £1.2million savings plan which focuses on foster placements which account for a third of the children's services budget. It is proposed to increase council run foster placements by 15 to reduce the reliance on external fostering agencies.

Services to provide a range of help for parents of vulnerable children such as supervised contact arrangements and family support services are also being reviewed.

The council hopes to work with families "through a relationship-based approach to make positive differences and enable very vulnerable young people to remain living securely with their families". The report adds: "This will enable us to drive more efficiencies whilst continuing to deliver and provide services using a holistic 'Think Family Approach' which is collaborative and at a lesser cost to the local authority."

This will result in less staff being needed. Consequently, a total of 22 posts will be at risk or affected, resulting in a maximum of 13 redundancies.

The council says: "Thurrock Council is facing a significant budget shortfall with an estimated deficit of £34 million over the next two financial years. There is a statutory obligation to report a balanced budget and all available alternative options have been explored including Council tax increases and asset reviews.

"It has, however, been identified that a saving of an estimated £20 million will need to come from staffing in the next two years. Children's Services, having the second highest staffing headcount in the council, will need to contribute to the savings figure whilst also maintaining high standards of services to children and their families."