Action for Children has reduced its fulltime staff as a result of losing millions of pounds in local authority funding

A children’s charity has had to slash its fulltime staff due to crippling funding cuts.

Action for Children saw its number of fulltime equivalent staff fall by 500 in the last financial year, with the charity’s overall income dropping more than £8 million in the same period.

In its annual accounts, the organisation has said the drop is down to a number of local authorities ceasing to fund children’s centres in England.

In a statement released as part of the accounts, Action for Children chair John O’Brien said: “The climate we have been operating in over the past year has been tough.

“Austerity continues to bite as we have seen with the closure of 128 children’s centres across England in the past year and, with less money available to local authorities, we are having to compete very hard for the funding that comes our way.

“The reality is – and I see this in the projects I have visited - that the need for the services we provide is not going away. In fact, it is increasing.”

The number of staff employed by the charity only fell slightly, which is likely down to many staff remaining on part-time terms.

An Action for Children spokesperson added: “Due to crippling government funding cuts, we’ve seen a fall in our income as local authorities have been forced to take many of our early help family support services back in-house or close them altogether. This has sadly led to the loss of some staff.

“We know early intervention services are still desperately needed and we are finding innovative ways to provide this support, often online.”