Sir – Of all the damaging cuts proposed by Oxfordshire County Council it is the likely closure of the children’s centres, which is the most destructive and short sighted.

I recently dropped into the Marston Northway Children’s Centre in Copse Lane to understand more about what the centre provides.

It is a “one-stop” shop to see the midwife or health visitor, and a place where pre-school children can get used to being with others of their own age. This makes the transition to school much easier.

In a safe environment, there are parenting and ante-natal classes, and opportunities for parents, grandparents and carers to help very young children learn through singing, and story-telling.

The commitment of the staff is second to none; they really care about what they do and are devastated by the likelihood of closure later this year.

Independent research on the value for money of Oxfordshire children’s centres gave them gold stars all round – improving the education and health of our children and enabling them to begin a journey where they reach their full potential.

This Conservative Government makes much of the extra cash it has recently allocated to the NHS. But with the closure of these centres, many of those caring for children will now have to go to their health centre to deal with concerns, which are already overloaded.

Closure is a false economy and the opposite of joined-up government. No one I have met in Marston and Northway thinks closing the local children’s centre is a good idea.

I hope voters all across Oxfordshire will use the opportunities they have at the ballot box in both 2016 and 2017 to tell Conservative councillors and candidates who rubber stamp these cuts they are wrong and cannot be forgiven.

Nigel Chapman
Oxford