A further 100 children's centres face closure

The union Unison has collated details of all English councils’ children’s centre reviews and found 102 are either being considered for closure or have had closure plans confirmed.

The news comes just a month after it emerged that 99 children’s centres closed in the six months between 1 January and 30 June this year, bringing the total number of children's centre closures since 2010 to 250. More than half of those closed were by just seven local authorities.

According to research by Unison, 10 centres are under threat of closure in Liverpool.

Sutton Council has been reviewing the future of 14 of its centres, with three centres at risk in Doncaster.

Meanwhile, Walsall Council plans to close five centres and nine centres will close their doors in Suffolk.

The figures were revealed by Unison as part of a report by campaign group Labour Friends of Sure Start.

The report, called Sure Start, What Future? also includes comment from, among others, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for education, Tristram Hunt.

Hunt said he wanted to see every Labour-run council make “protecting Sure Start centres in disadvantaged areas a spending priority”.

He added that investing in the early development support offered in centres was crucial because “evidence that early child development has important consequences for a whole host of future outcomes – from mental health, employment and material success, right through to the propensity to commit crime or abuse substances – is conclusive.”