MORE than 30 of Oxfordshire's children's centres could escape closure if district, town and parish councils step in, it emerged tonight.

Oxfordshire County Council has confirmed it is in talks with several other local authorities that have offered to provide alternative funding, with at least 11 guaranteed to stay open until April 2017 to avert a crisis in childcare.

The Government has said it will also provide £9m over the next two years to help ease the impacts of cuts.

But Save Oxfordshire Children's Centres campaign leader Jill Huish dismissed the cash as "an empty gesture".

She added: "It is not enough. We have been thrown some crumbs but it is not going to stop them from making the cuts."

News that some children's centres could stay open came as bosses at social services today revealed they were set to press ahead with reforms that would withdraw funding for all 44 of the county's children's centres and seven early intervention hubs to save £8m.

They would be replaced with eight 'children and family centres' used by a new £12m service for children and young people aged up to 19, with centres at Banbury, Bicester, Abingdon, Didcot and Witney, with three in Oxford, at Rose Hill, Barton and Blackbird Leys.

Proposals for the new service was overwhelmingly rejected in a public consultation.

But Melinda Tilley, county council cabinet member for children and families, said some changes had been made to keep services that people valued, such as keeping the mobile "play bus", running open-access sessions and continued universal and targeted health services at the centres.

Mrs Tilley said: "We know how highly people value the current range of services and we are truly sorry to have to reduce them.

"The desire to defend what we have now has been clearly articulated and we understand the sentiment.

"But the reality is current financial pressures and rising demand alone – never mind future savings – mean having to redesign services.

"What we are proposing is the safest possible system that protects vulnerable families and links effectively with other agencies.

"We understand the importance of [solving problems at an early stage] and have built in some changes to our proposals in response."

The county council is encouraging voluntary and community organisations to take over the running of children's centres, with the local authority also stressing it will continue outreach services.

But Ms Huish said: "We need professionals to keep our children safe. It is about stopping bad things happening at early stages.

"I do not see anything here that will make children safer."

The cuts to funding for children's centres are among wider savings that will be voted on by councillors on Tuesday.

The proposed budget includes proposals for £69m more savings up to 2020, on top of £290m already planned since 2010.