Many authorities are being asked to build far more centres in this second wave of development than they originally anticipated (see feature, p20).
This has led to debates about what has to be put in place to constitute a children's centre. The answer in some areas, if councils' interpretation of a new flexible approach by the Department for Education and Skills is anything to go by, is not much. The needs of people in some more affluent areas, it seems, will be met with little more than an information centre signposting people to services.
This in turn has led to questions about whether these interpretations are true to the original vision and promises of a children's centre in every community, and about how much substance there really was in the pre-election talk of childcare and early years education forming a new pillar of the welfare state.
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