A High Court challenge to plans to close children’s centers in east London has been withdrawn after the council admitted the consultation was “unlawful”.

Hackney Council wanted to close Fernbank and Sebright children’s centers in Stoke Newington and Haggerston as part of plans to cut 129 of 600 subsidized childcare places.

But campaigners said other options had not been explored and the council’s consultations had “misled the community”. initiated legal action.

Ahead of the latest hearing, Hackney Council admitted the consultation materials were “not sufficiently clear” and said it was “resolved by consent” on the advice of lawyers. The council said it would present its future plans soon.

Under the council’s plans, Oldhill children’s center in Clapton and Hillside in Stamford Hill also faced a proposed reduction in period-only childcare services.

Families with children in affected nurseries have instructed lawyers to object to Hackney Council’s proposals to close the nurseries.

The group, known as “Save Hackney Children’s Centres”, raised money through a crowdfunding website and were given legal aid.

Ahead of the final hearing in the High Court, the council accepted that the “Children’s Center Childcare Consultation”, which took place between 31 January and 24 April 2024, was “unlawful”.

Following the council’s decision to drop the case, the judge ruled that the council must pay the campaigners’ legal fees.

Natalie Aguilera, who has a child at Fernbank Nursery School, said: “The truth is that closing Sebright and Fernbank children’s centers and reducing services at Hillside and Oldhill is a political choice made at the expense of the youngest members of our community who are not yet able to speak for themselves.”

He said families were “calling on the council to recognize the clear strength of feeling in the community” and said they wanted the council to be “committed not to cut or close children’s centres”.

Tim Cowbury, who has two children in kindergarten, said: “My family relies heavily on these services.

“I hope the council understands how significant the impact would be for local families if its recommendations were implemented and therefore will not be making any changes to these vital services.”

A spokesman for Hackney Council said: “The council stands by the need to make changes to the way we provide subsidized childcare to make early years provision more sustainable, as a result of rising costs, staff shortages and general financial pressures on local authorities. “

They added: “However, given the advice we have received, we do not believe it would be in the interests of residents to use further resources to defend the legal challenge.

“We will use this opportunity to review our approach to how we will make our early years services more sustainable in the future and present our future plans as soon as practically possible.”