Children's centres: seven councils responsible for more than half of closures

Responding to a question in parliament from Labour childcare spokeswoman Sharon Hodgson, Gyimah said that 250 “main” children’s centres had closed as of 30 June 2015.

He said 2,677 main children’s centres remain open, along with 705 “additional” sites – giving a total of 3,382.

Based on these figures, the 250 closures represents a reduction of 8.5 per cent in the total number of “main” centres open since April 2010.

Statistics provided by Gyimah detailing the locations of closed children’s centres show that just seven local authorities were responsible for 133 closures – more than half the total number of closures across England in the past five years.

A total of 43 children’s centres (17.2 per cent of the total) were closed in Staffordshire, while Durham County Council closed 28 centres (11.2 per cent), Stockport Council closed 14 centres (5.6 per cent), Kent County Council closed 13 centres (5.2 per cent), Bromley Council and Essex County Council each closed 12 centres (4.8 per cent each), and Wakefield Council closed 11 centres (4.4 per cent).

According to the government statistics a total of 48 councils have closed at least one children’s centre, meaning the remaining 104 councils (68.4 per cent of all councils) have not.

Claims on the number of children’s centres to have closed have varied widely in recent years and have been hotly contested.

In January last year, then childcare minister Elizabeth Truss, said only 65 of the 3,615 centres open in April 2010 had closed.

But figures published by Labour in November 2013 suggested that, at that point, 578 children’s centres had closed since the coalition government took office.

Earlier this week, shadow children and families spokesperson Sharon Hodgson said cuts to early years funding meant there were now 800 fewer centres than five years ago.

Earlier this month Gyimah announced a consultation into the future of children's centres.

Responding to a separate parliamentary question, Gyimah said the consultation will offer parents, carers, local authorities and key stakeholders "the opportunity to influence and drive what we expect from children’s centre services and where we see them collectively having the greatest impact".

"This consultation will not just be about the children’s centre buildings but focus on what they provide as part of the integrated services for children and families locally, what outcomes they should achieve and what accountability framework is needed to best demonstrate impact," he said.