The Chair of Horsham Labour, David Hide, was contacted by the County Times and told them:
We fully support the ongoing childcare provision provided by the council's subsidised play schemes and think it an outrage that the Tories are planning to axe this provision.
Hard-working mums and dads who make use of this popular play scheme need all the help they can get.
Horsham Labour Party will write to each member of the council asking them to overturn this proposal and ensure affordable childcare remains available to all.
Subsequently our prospective parliamentary candidate has written to all members of the council, pointing out that parents using the service during the Easter and summer school holidays will now find themselves having to consider whether they are able to continue working, and urging them to vote against this proposal at the next full council meeting.
There is a further risk, not mentioned in the letter, or in the local paper coverage, and that is the risk that some parents faced with the choice of giving up their jobs may instead decide to leave their children alone at home if they feel they cannot afford to stop working.
A council spokesperson is quoted as saying that there has been a decline in the numbers attending the council schemes and that demans has dropped. We in Horsham Labour believe that any decline in numbers could be explained by the schemes not being sufficiently publicised, as well as the hours being too short in most schemes. We have seen this approach with many other services like rural buses - make them harder to use so that usage drops and then use the drop in usage to justify closure.
Does the council really believe there is no demand for a service that is cheaper than the private services? Or does it just believe that those who cannot afford the private alternatives do not matter and that it is all right for their children to be potentially at risk?