While the Government has promised 2,500 children centres by 2008, Children Now has learned some of these may only be a base for outreach work or an information kiosk.
Original plans for children's centres set out a checklist of core services including early education integrated with full daycare, parental outreach, family support and health services.
But a new "flexible model" described in detail in guidance to be published by the Department for Education and Skills is likely to say centres in more affluent areas will offer far fewer services.
"Centres in more affluent areas may be more like an information kiosk.
That's not the vision that was sold to the public," said Vidhya Alakeson, research fellow for the Social Market Foundation.
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