Conducted by 4Children and the Daycare Trust, the survey of children’s centre managers across England, found that over the next 12 months seven per cent of respondents said they will be forced to close, while 56 per cent will have to provide a reduced service.
A total of 917 managers took part in the survey and, according to the charities' projections based on the results, 3,100 centres across the country will have a decreased budget, while staff at 1,000 centres have been issued "at risk of redundancy notices".
Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said: "Families across the country, particularly the most vulnerable, depend on Sure Start children’s centres to help get their children off to the best start in life. We know that local authorities have some extremely difficult spending decisions to make but investment now will lead to real savings in the long term.
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