A CHILDREN'S centre in Kingsbridge could potentially be at risk following proposals to 're-think the way the service is delivered across Devon. Centres across the South Hams could have their contracts re-tendered after public consultations by Devon County Council. The council is proposing to change the services contracts to 'reduce bureaucracy and management running costs'. Kingsbridge's Children's Centre, Belle Cross Road, is one which could be at risk following the proposal to have one contract for each district area. In the South Hams, children's centres are currently run in Kingsbridge, Dartmouth, Totnes and Ivybridge, with a link site in South Brent. Kingsbridge Children's Centre currently has a catchment of 761 under 5s and 90 per cent of them are registered with the centre. Kingsbridge is rated by deprivation at 29/43 and has the fourth lowest building running costs in the South Devon area. But Devon County Council say they need to reduce Children's Centre contracts by 15 per cent to £7.3million, in addition to the five per cent reduction already taking place, over the next three years. A spokeswoman from Devon County Council said: 'At the present the consultation seems vague, but it is important that we can do it. 'The proposal is one contract for each district area. If this gets recommended, it will go ahead when contracts are up for renewal. 'Its really about how the contracts are managed to reduce bureaucracy and management running costs. 'The contracts will then be awarded on a district level, it is still one or two years before that will happen.' Public consultation has already begun on proposals to re-think the way children's centre services are delivered across Devon. A proposal to re-tender children's centre contracts based on Devon's eight district/city council boundaries aims to help reduce management and administration costs while protecting local services targeting those most in need. The county council said that there is no longer a requirement for Devon to have a specific number of centres meaning funding can be used more creatively to deliver services rather than being spent on buildings. The proposals would continue to provide a number of children's centres in each area while ensuring more outreach services are made available in rural areas. These could be delivered from a variety of locations and community buildings in partnership with other local service providers such as health, adult learning and Job Centre Plus. The review and consultation also aims to encourage schools and pre-schools to explore opp-ortunities to expand their accommodation to provide places for vulnerable two-year-olds. Buildings linked to or on school sites that are currently under-used could be transferred to other organisations including schools to deliver daily activities for pre-school children. If the proposals are agreed, they will be applied as the existing contracts come up for renewal over the next three years. Councillor James McInnes, children and young people's services spokesman, said: 'We know that children's centres and associated services are vitally important to help support families across Devon. 'We remain fully committed to delivering high quality, multi-agency services for children under five, and particularly to those families in greatest need. 'We will continue to support the delivery of local services, either directly from children's centres or through a range of outreach services. 'But given the current financial situation things simply can't stay the same. 'We have to think again about the best way to provide this support to families for less money. 'Clearly some efficiencies can be made in the way we contract for these services. 'But this review offers an opportunity to redesign current services to better meet local needs. I would encourage everyone to give us their views and to put forward their own ideas or suggestions on how best we can continue to provide and improve these important services.' Full details of the proposals and consultation events can be found at http://www.devon.gov.uk/">www.devon.gov.uk/ toughchoices. The six-week consultation is set to end by June 6. Devon County Council's cabinet will consider a final recommendation on the future of the service on July 9.