A LAST-DITCH bid to scrap controversial children's centre cuts across Worcestershire has failed despite a protest from furious parents.

Worcestershire County Council decided to press ahead with widespread cuts to its children centres from October.

During indignant scenes at County Hall:

- Councillors voted by 30 hands to 20 against postponing the changes by 12 months, saying there was no "credible alternative"

- Angry mums heckled, shouted at and booed some politicians, leading to the chairman saying he may have to eject people unless it calmed down

- Labour Councillor Joe Baker was warned about his conduct as he urged protestors in the public gallery to stand up and potentially make a scene inside the chamber

Under the plans from next month, the £6.4 million yearly funding pot for 32 children's centres in Worcestershire will drop to just £3 million.

As the Advertiser has reported extensively in recent months, no centres will close but services in around 18 face significant reductions under the control of schools or childcare organisations.

A Labour bid to postpone the changes for a year, giving time to find alternative savings, was voted out by the Conservative group despite support from the Lib Dems, Greens, UKIP and all but one independent councillor.

Labour group leader Councillor Peter McDonald called the cutbacks "devastating" and claimed the changes would result in "a postcode lottery" in service provision.

To a standing ovation from the public gallery, he said: "These families are right to protest, right to fight to ensure the gap between the 'have' and 'have-nots' does not escalate.

"If children and families really matter, there is only one solution - postpone these cuts and find other ways around it."

Labour Councillor Paul Denham, the group's children and families spokesman, called the idea volunteers could replace professional staff at some sites "nonsense", likening it to "volunteer GPs or volunteer teachers".

Lib Dem Councillor Fran Oborski called a postponement "the decent thing to do" while Councillor Baker - who was reprimanded by the chairman for his conduct - accused the Tories of "playing God with people's lives".

Labour Councillor Richard Udall called the cuts "perverse" before some Conservatives started to take issue with the language.

Councillor Udall said: “Access to services must not be defined by postcode alone, poverty should not be a disability, wealth should not be a disadvantage.”

Councillor Marc Bayliss, the cabinet member overseeing the changes, said the online petition has only attracted signatures from "0.02 per cent" of Worcestershire's population, around 1,000 people, claiming most people in the county believe the cuts are "sensible and proportionate".

He also cited a petition in Derbyshire about children’s centre closures which attracted 59,000 names, saying the level of opposition in Worcestershire is very small, sparking loud criticism.

He was repeatedly heckled by the public as he suggested schools "cannot wait" to take centres over and integrate services, while fellow Tory Councillor Andy Roberts likened the opposition behaviour to "a mob".

Councillor Roberts called the level of debate “offensive”, while fellow Tory Councillor John Smith called it “the most appalling display by my colleagues opposite that I’ve ever seen”.

In turn, Labour politicians said it was “appalling” that the cuts were going ahead, with Councillor McDonald citing the 2014 £80,000 spending bill for hospitality, £12,000 on a Jaguar for County Hall’s chairman, and the recent £104,000 worth of payouts to workers dismissed under the outsourcing deal with Babcock, saying it flies in the face of the authority being “cash strapped”.

He said the council did have the money to avoid making the reductions, but is choosing to invest it elsewhere - but the leader Councillor Simon Geraghty called the level of debate “not good for democracy”.

“We haven’t been able to conduct a good, civilised debate and that is not good for democracy,” he said.

He told the chamber that unlike other counties, no council-controlled centres would close, adding: “We will always be there for the most vulnerable in society.”

Councillor Bayliss said: "If there's any anxiety, it's being whipped up by opposition parties, who are telling people things that are not true."

He also rejected accusations of a postcode lottery, saying key prevention services like neo-natal checks and health visitors would remain a “universal” offer at each children’s centre.

He also got into a spat with Councillor Udall, who kept on interjecting as he spoke.

During the debate the Tories cited the fact that around 50 per cent of the county has no local children’s centre at all, including areas like Bredon and Tenbury.

Councillor Ken Pollock, another Conservative cabinet member, said: “They haven’t been around that long – there’s probably not a single adult in this room who didn’t grow up without a children’s centre; we didn’t turn out too badly, did we.”

As they spoke, some members of the public sang 'if you're angry and you know it shout we are’.

Final proposals for the children's centres - which are expected to be subject to more council scrutiny - will be published imminently.

Of the £3.4 million in spending reductions, around half of that is due to the loss of a Government Early Intervention Grant.

During the debate around 60 parents turned up to watch, alongside several political figures who do not have seats at County Hall, including Worcester Green Party district Councillor Louis Stephen and Dan Walton, the chairman of West Worcestershire Labour Party.

Mr Walton spoke out at the start of the meeting against the cuts, while Councillor Stephen called the centres "an essential lifeline to parents" afterwards.

After the meeting Councillor Bayliss called the language of Councillor McDonald "deplorable".

"I want members of the public to watch it and see for themselves," he said.

The whole debate has been raging since the spring.