Sure start: Centre managers face employee exodus as budgets are slashed

Last year, centre managers said successful partnerships were fallingapart as cash-strapped health trusts refused to foot the bill for SureStart health staff (Children Now, 23-29 November 2006). Now centres arereporting increasing numbers of non-health staff are also leaving asuncertainty over future budgets mount.

Kaela Francioli, centre manager at Bacup and Stacksteads Sure Start inLancashire, said centres only found out last year the dramatic extent ofthe cut caused by the loss of ringfenced status. Its funding is to dropto a quarter of its original budget in 2008/09. As a result, saidFrancioli, four staff had left and more are to follow.

"We've had to reduce our family support from a team of five to twopart-timers. We can't possibly deliver the first-rate service peopledeserve. It is good that money is being shared and the Government isbuilding more children's centres but it is having massive implicationsfor the planning of programmes."