Last week Tony Blair hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street for staffat Sure Start children's centres from across the UK.
Their work, the Prime Minister said, was an "inspiration". Many in thesector, however, would be forgiven for greeting his praise with agrimace.
These are testing times for children's centres. Earlier this month,children's minister Beverley Hughes's claim that children's centres arebeing funded at around 66 per cent of the funding level associated withthe original Sure Start centres was dismissed by staff at centres inKent, who said that the figure was closer to 21 per cent (Children Now,10-16 January).
The row followed a National Audit Office report warning that 13 per centof children's centres are forecasting a financial deficit for the yearand - even more worryingly - 52 per cent are doing nothing to identifythe cost or cost-effectiveness of services. It also found that mostcentres failed to identify and offer support to the most disadvantagedfamilies in their areas.
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