A KEY decision which will seal the fate of West Somerset's children's centres has been delayed "for at least a week" following passionate pleas to keep the status quo.

Dulverton and Exmoor Conservative county councillor Frances Nicholson was due to make an executive decision on Monday on behalf of Somerset County Council colleagues, which would have seen just 23 of Somerset's 41 designated children's centres remaining in their current form.

But she deferred making the decision after calls from opposition councillors and member of the public for more detailed information about the proposals.

Cllr Nicholson said the changes - which would have resulted in Dulverton's existing centre being "de-designated" - were all about investing money in services, not buildings.

She said the proposals would result in more frontline staff and reduced management and running costs.

Speaking at Somerset County Council's scrutiny committee at the end of last week, Cllr Nicholson said she could not justify spending more money on the upkeep of buildings at the expense of frontline services.

She told councillors and the numerous members of the public who spoke out in favour of retaining all of the centres in their current form that the authority had been spending £5.6 million on the service.

More than half of that figure was on management, administration and building costs.

Cllr Nicholson said: "It is very clear people feel very passionate about the children's services we deliver.

"I feel passionate about them too.

"These proposals are about investing at least £1m more directly on frontline services."

She said communities that would be served by the 18 "de-designated" centres would still receive children's services, however, some of those services might be delivered at alternative venues, such as through village halls or local schools.

But while Cllr Nicholson agreed to delay her decision to give people more time to digest the finer details of the proposals, the scrutiny committee still voted to recommend she approved the changes.

Opposition leader, Liberal Democrat Cllr Sam Crabb said he was far from happy with the responses he had received at the meeting.

Speaking afterwards he said: "This is a disgrace, the meeting was heavily attended by members of the public and their voices were ignored.

"I repeatedly asked what would happen to the buildings once the centres were closed, who would taken them on, to which I received no answer."

Cllr Nicholson said she wanted to consider "every point of view" before making a final decision on the service.

Although Dulverton's centre is proposed to be "de-designated", centres in Alcombe, Williton and Watchet would remain.

However, there would still be changes as the service offered by the Williton and Watchet centres, while continuing to operate from two bases, would be merged under the banner of Quantock, while the Alcombe centre would be rebranded as West Coast and Exmoor.

Alcombe would act as a hub for the whole of the West Somerset service, providing outreach services for other communities, including Dulverton.

The West Somerset area would also be linked to a new cluster of centres, dubbed Taunton Deane Two.

That area currently has three centres in Wellington, Wiveliscombe and Bishops Lydeard, but under the proposals, a single centre would remain in Wellington with the other two set to be "de-designated".