Children's minister Nadhim Zahawi prompted controversy last month when, appearing before the science and technology select committee, which is conducting an inquiry into evidence-based early years intervention, he made the claim that children's centres are not being closed in the most disadvantaged areas. Instead, councils are using centres differently, and getting better outcomes, Zahawi added.
The fact that there have been children's centres closures on a vast scale is not disputed. Last month a report by the Sutton Trust titled Stop Start, calculated there are now 1,000 fewer children's centres than in 2009, although about half of these buildings still provide some form of service.
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