PARENTS have hailed an 11th-hour reprieve for a Moray childcare scheme as a victory for working families.
Forres Out of School Club, which is funded by the local authority, was facing the axe because it was said to be losing £16,000 a year.
However, councillors have now voted to keep the facility open for the immediate future.
The change of heart came after it was shown that some parents would have to give up their jobs if it was closed.
Forres mum Kirsten Howard, an auxiliary nurse at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, sends her five-year-old daughter Eilidh to the club.
Welcoming the decision yesterday, she said: “It’s the only place near here that caters for parents who work unsociable hours. If it closes it would have a huge effect on my family. I really hope it’s kept open permanently.”
Mrs Howard said that without the club, either she or her husband, Andrew, an electrician at Roseisle, would be forced to work weekends.
She said: “We would be like ships that pass in the night.” The original decision, taken earlier this year, to axe the facility came as part of the council’s ongoing drive to save £20million over the next three years.
The announcement came as a shock to everyone with children at the club.
Offshore worker Rob Burns said that it had been a body blow to himself, his wife Jane – a sergeant at RAF Lossiemouth – and their six-year-old son Martin.
He said: “I’m glad that at least some of the councillors seem to be listening.
“It’s ordinary working people who vote the council in.
“It’s the council’s job to help the local community.
“After all, the money they have to spend is provided by the taxes and national insurance that we pay.
“People need to be given the chance to work so they can pay those taxes.”
Councillor Aaron McLean, who represents Forres on Moray Council, proposed the motion to keep the club open at a meeting of the Children and Young People’s Services Committee.
He said: “We want this to be looked at again. We’re going to try now to persuade our fellow councillors that this is a service that should not be cut.”
Councillor Sean Morton, who seconded the motion, said: “I have consistently fought to keep this club open because there are working families who depend on it.
“An assessment was carried out regarding the effects of the closure and it had failed to show there were alternative affordable facilities for some families.
“It may, however, prove to be a stay of execution as there are some councillors who seem determined to see it close.”
A council spokesman said: “As no budget exists to keep the facility open the matter will now have to be reported to the policy and resources committee, where any proposals to fund the continued operation of the club will be discussed.”