Hundreds of jobs are at risk after Britain’s biggest children’s charity announced it would close dozens of offices.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said as part of a radical three-year “restructuring plan” the charity would focus more on regional problems rather than its national role.
Andrew Flanagan, who took over as chief executive last year, told staff they would either be moved to new “regional centres” in cities or big towns or face finding new jobs as the charity struggles with “[the] difficult economic climate and the implications of a changing political landscape”.
To make the charity more cost-effective, Flanagan will shift staff from the headquarters in London, withdraw others from its 180 local centres into “40 or 50 large offices” and a “minority” of the 800 child protection staff, who work with the most vulnerable people in society, will lose their jobs.
But internal documents obtained by the Guardian show that the first year of the plan include a widespread cull of services across the country.
More than 40 service centres have been put on notice that they may be closed or moved, with an internal memo saying that managers “appreciate this leaves [staff] with uncertainty, but we do need to ensure the decisions made are thoroughly researched”.
