CYP Now - Analysis: Children's Centres - Is Sure Start still sure of its purpose?

As Sure Start local programmes become rebranded as Sure Start children's centres, many projects are seeing their budgets cut. Sue Learner investigates concerns that services for children in disadvantaged areas will suffer through the transition.

All over England, Sure Start local programmes are being hit by funding cuts, as the service is gradually replaced by Sure Start children's centres.

In Camden in north London, Queen's Crescent Community Centre is under threat of closure as it waits to hear whether it will get a £40,000 grant (CYP Now, 30 January-5 February 2008). Meanwhile in nearby Stamford Hill, Beis Brucha, the UK's only care home for Jewish mothers and their babies has had its Sure Start funding reduced from £20,000 to £12,000.

Funding

The first Sure Start local programmes (SSLPs) were set up in 1999 as an integral part of the government's drive to tackle child poverty and social exclusion.

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