Council ‘has missed its own deadline’ for lifeline services

TALKS AT A STANDSTILL OVER FUTURE OF CITY’S VITAL COMMUNITY CENTRES

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

NOTTINGHAM City Council's talks with lifeline centres that host services ranging from food banks to nurseries are at a “standstill” after the authority seemingly missed its own deadline.

Managers of Nottingham’s vital community centres say it feels like a “kick in the teeth” that they are still without crucial details about their future.

We asked the Labour-run council if it still wants its new arrangements for community centres to come into force from April 2026 as originally planned. So far, they have not responded.

With that date rapidly approaching, community centres say they need far more certainty between now and then.

The council originally wanted outline terms to be agreed by the end of September 2025, but many community centres say this has not happened, and some say they have not heard from the city council in months.

Maria Shakespeare, the chair of the Crabtree Farm Community Centre, said: “You'd think by now they'd have said something, but it’s just at a standstill”