More than 1,000 children's centres axed since 2010

Responding to a Freedom of Information request, the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed that a total of 295 children’s centre buildings have been closed since 2010.

In addition to this there are now a total of 731 sites where services have either been merged or reduced to such an extent that they technically can no longer be called a children's centre and have been “de-registered”. This means that there are now 1,026 fewer children's centres than there were in 2010.

A year-on-year breakdown of children’s centre closures shows that there were no closures in 2010. However the rate of closures has been increasing rapidly each year since then. In 2011 a total of nine centres were closed, followed by 27 in 2012, 32 in 2013, 83 in 2014, and 144 in 2015.

Far more closures and service reductions are likely to follow. Earlier this month CYP Now revealed that there are currently around 400 children’s centres at risk of closure or being downgraded as a result of council cuts.

If councils follow through on the proposals it could mean that a total of 1,426 of the 3,631 network of Sure Start children's centres as of April 2010 will have been axed – the equivalent of more than one in three of the total (39.3 per cent).

Sure Start children's centres were first developed under Tony Blair's Labour government, with an initial £540m allocated to the initiative between 1999 and 2002. The number has been falling as local authorities look to reorganise services and save money to deal with ongoing funding cuts.

Among the current proposals is Hampshire County Council, which plans to keep just 11 of its current 54 children’s centres open as part of a bid to save £8.5m. Meanwhile Essex County Council has announced plans to close 25 children’s centres as part of its overhaul of services for children and families.

The government had said it will launch a consultation on the future of children's centres in the summer. It had been due to launch last autumn but has been delayed.