PLANS to close four youth centres in Pembrokeshire are to be re-examined.

A recommendation before Pembrokeshire County Council’s cabinet that youth service provision be cut across the county has been 'called in' by the chairman of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further discussion.

On Monday, the council's cabinet decided to close Hakin and Hubberston youth centre and ‘relinquish’ the building in which it is housed, as well as to close centres in Cilgerran, Manorbier and Solva and reduce sessions in Tenby.

The youth centre building in Neyland will also be relinquished and sessions reduced to two, held in an alternative location.

The proposals are due to begin at Easter 2015 and will save around £56,000.

The Youth Service savings target for 2015/16 is £125,000.

Hubberston local councillor Viv Stoddart said a review citing falling numbers as a reason for the closure in her ward did not take into consideration the many others who use it or the knock on effect on the whole community.

Scrutiny committee chairman Cllr Pat Davies also attended the council meeting and examined data collected by the review.

She concluded that it was necessary to call in the recommendation and report after finding the data “inequitable”.

Cabinet was told that numbers attending Hakin and Hubberston Youth Club had dropped from 264 individuals in 2011 to 137 in 2013/14 but data seen by Cllr Davies indicates that this was the second highest attendance of all youth centres in the county.

Cllr Davies added that the reduction in youth service provision required further discussion by councillors and this should have happened before a recommendation went to cabinet as part of the “democratic process”.

Cllr Davies said: “I have called the report in. I listened to what cabinet had to say about the recommendation for closure for a couple of youth centres and cuts in youth provision and accepted some of it, that there was a fall in numbers in some places.

“I looked at the data and the consultation that had taken place and I was not happy with it. I could see that some areas were going to lose their provision fully when they had higher numbers of young people accessing it.”

She added attempts had been made to bring the report to committee before cabinet but its large work programme and agenda had made that difficult, it had been due to be discussed at the December meeting.

A request has now been made to the head of legal service to call a special meeting to discuss the report and recommendation fully, with a date for the meeting to be set within ten days.

“There will be a special meeting to let members look at it and discuss it. The system is wrong, a recommendation like that should come to scrutiny so it can be discussed, not just on a parochial basis and your area but the whole picture.

“I know the benefit of the youth services, I am chairman of the board of trustees of POINT [Fishguard’s youth centre]. Youth provision is really needed. I know we are going through a period of cuts but there are so many young people who aren’t engaged at school, aren’t engaged in society and aren’t engaged in the community. This youth provision and opportunity for young people to meet is vitally important. It is short sighted to cut provision for young people.”

However, at Hubberston it is not just youth services that use the building; there are also adult classes and a nursery run from the building.

The move to close the centre has prompted strong objections from ward councillor Viv Stoddart and Cllr Mike Stoddart, of neighbouring ward Hakin.

Cllr Viv Stoddart said that the centre is at the ‘heart of the community physically and symbolically’. She added that figures she received last week, after requesting them around Christmas time, stated the Hubberston closure would save £17,000.

At Cabinet on Monday (September 8) members were told that head of performance and community James White, or a senior service manager, had visited every youth club run by the council to carry out the review.

Cllr Sue Perkins, cabinet member for safeguarding, said that the review sought to ensure that a county wide presence remained and that areas of the most need of provision continued to receive it.

Cabinet was told that Hubberston and Hakin children are accessing the purpose built youth centre in Milford Haven, which cost over £1million, and that a bus there and back could be provided.

This was rejected by Cllr Davies, who said young people were unlikely to travel by bus nor be as inclined to engage with young people from other areas.

Mr White also said that the centre needs to make four or five times the income it does now to break even but he would be happy to have a discussion with anyone willing to take it over.

Cllr Viv Stoddart said after the meeting: “We are disappointed that cabinet did not agree to our request to delay making a decision on the future of Hakin and Hubberston youth club.

"The club is one of the key and valued users of Hubberston Community Centre. We asked that this crucial decision be seen in the wider context of the future of this vibrant facility which is at the heart of the community in Hakin and Hubberston.

“The focus in the youth club did not take into account the knock on effect of closure on additional services which contribute to the well being of the community.”