On Tuesday, 31st of March 2026, both Garforth and Micklefield Children’s Centres will be closing. Following these closures, the closest Children’s Centre locations will be in Kippax, Cross Gates and Manston.
These changes have been implemented following the latest review of Children’s Centres in Leeds- and in order to save £2.45m. In 2025, the Garforth and Swillington Independents attempted to have the decision to close the centres called in for re-consideration, due to disagreements on how the cost-saving would be achieved.
More Children’s Centres in Yorkshire are set to shut down, including Chapel Allerton’s and Headingley, Horsforth and Ireland Wood’s. Pudsey Children’s Centre has already been shut down. You can find the full list here.
The Leeds City Council review stated that ‘we are progressing work on a proposed staffing restructure, with consultation involving staff and trade unions underway. It is expected that this will be completed by April 2026 order that staff groups can be reshaped to deliver an improved service via the 31 centres, in the newly formed 7 groups.’
The new seven group structure of the Children’s Centres can be found here.
South Group 5 Family Services page on Facebook stated in the post detailing the closure that ‘further updates for the Children’s Centre changes will be posted on the Facebook page over the next coming weeks.’ The original post can be found here.
For more Garforth news, subscribe to The Garforth Gazette’s newsletter or keep checking the website!
Leave a Reply