PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
CLOSURE OF CHILDLINE OFFICE IN EDINBURGH (3 July 2011)

That this House expresses its concern at the decision by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to close the Edinburgh office of ChildLine at the end of August; notes that, if carried out, this will result in the redundancy of 14 staff, 100 volunteer posts and a cut of 16,000 hours of telephone, email and online chat-based counselling for those children most in need; considers that, since opening in 2008 with an injection of over 300,000 from the then Scottish Executive, ChildLine Edinburgh has provided an outstanding level of service; pays tribute to the work of the highly-skilled and trained managers, staff and volunteers from across east central Scotland and Fife, who have helped ChildLine make a difference to the lives of so many children and young people across the country in their time of need; recognises the concerns of staff and volunteers regarding these proposals; further considers that they have been both poorly informed and poorly consulted whilst acknowledging the slight increase in the consultation period timetable; believes that the loss of this talented pool of highly motivated staff and volunteers to the ChildLine service would be a serious blow to the voluntary sector in Edinburgh; and urges the NSPCC to reconsider the consequences of its decision for children who use this critical service and for the staff and volunteers who make it happen.

Sponsored by:
Ian Murray (Labour)