PARENTS could be “forced out of work” as after-school clubs and play centres look set to be the latest children's service to lose support from Haringey Council.

The council plans to axe funding to the eight centres across the borough, which provide childcare during term time and holidays for children aged four to 12.

The plans, currently under consultation, would see the council ask local schools and volunteers to take on responsibility for the clubs from April.

If the schools refuse, clubs could close by the end of March and force parents to find alternative childcare arrangements at short notice.

But the Haringey Independent understands that the council has already handed redundancy notices to staff at the centres, leaving parents feeling the consultation is a sham.

Patrick Wong, whose children attend the Falkland Play Centre in Froshiber Road, said he was shocked to receive a letter outlining the plans.

He said: “What has been presented to parents as a proposal for consultation will become a fact.

“I received a letter outlining the proposed curtailment of after school clubs on February 11. The letter states that if agreed the proposals would be fully implemented by July with a transition period between April and June.

“It appears that the council has failed to stick to its own consultation period and has been making redundancies. This will leave parents who rely on after school clubs chronically short of time to organise an alternative.”

Mr Wong is a parent governor at South Harringay Infant School, and said from his experience it was unlikely schools would be able to adjust their budget with such short notice to take on the running of the play centres.

The move comes after last week's budget meeting, which saw the council slash 75 per cent of its funding to youth services, and the closures are part of an effort to save £9.8 million in the Children and Young People's Service.

Liberal Democrat Harringay councillor, David Schmitz, said: “The club is an excellent facility, praised by Ofsted, but it's more than that. Many of the mothers depend on the childcare in order to hold down a job.

“The pace with which the closure is being implemented may force many of them out of work.

“The council has offered the parents a meeting but it is in the middle of a working day and will exclude the parents who need the meeting the most.”

Cabinet member for children and young people, Councillor Lorna Reith, said: “In the wake of unprecedented spending cuts by central government, we have made an in-principle decision to end direct council delivery of after-school and holiday childcare.

“We know how valued the service is by parents and are in ongoing discussions with schools to see whether they can continue to provide affordable after-school care without council subsidy, and we have made £500,000 available to ease this transition.”

A meeting to discuss how voluntary groups will be involved in the future commissioning of child and young people's services in the borough is being held on Monday at the Turkish Cypriot Community Centre in Green Lanes at 1pm.

For a list of the eight centres affected by the cuts, click here.