
We are about to recommission our children's centres, a periodic gauntlet run by local authorities who contract out this provision and one which is fraught with pitfalls for the commissioner. Children's centres are a subject that ignites passion and interest among parents, carers and local communities like few others.
Commissioning this service is an emotionally and politically charged process. Since their implementation in 2004, families have come to rely on children's centres for parenting support, access to services and the simple human contact of a weekly stay-and-play. However, Ofsted inspections of this provision have been suspended since 2015, and a parliamentary question by Labour shadow childcare minister Tracy Brabin recently revealed that since 2010, 508 Sure Start centres across the country have closed as a result of cuts to children's services. New research by the Sutton Trust suggests that number may be as high as 1,000.
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