More than 1,000 children’s centres closed over last decade
Joe Lepper
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Official figures show that 1,342 children’s centres have closed over the last decade.
The number of full children’s centres dropped from 3,615 in 2010 to just 2,773 last year, according to analysis of figures revealed by children's minister Will Quince in parliament this week.
The Conservative MP for Colchester supplied the figures in response to a question on children’s centre numbers from shadow early years minister, Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood Helen Hayes.
The figures relate to full children’s centres as well as sites which offer some children’s centre services.
Analysis of the figures by the Early Years Alliance shows that the number of full children’s centres in each area has been cut by more than a third on average.
More than 50 councils have seen the number of designated centres halve since 2010. Just two local authorities have seen an increase in the number of full centres.
Linked centres, that offer children’s centre services but do not meet the statutory definition of a children’s centres are also in decline. There were 2,965 such linked centres in 2010, a drop of 650 since 2010.
Early Years Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch said: “We know that children’s centres are a vital source of support, practical advice and guidance for families across the country, and in particular, disadvantaged and vulnerable families.
“As such, it is extremely worrying that over 1,300 centres have closed since 2011, and that more than 50 local authorities have seen the number of full centres in their areas more than halve.
“While the government’s plan to invest in a new programme of family hubs is welcome, it’s very difficult to see how the plans as described to date will compensate for the sheer scale of the closures that these figures show.
“For so many children’s centres to be disappearing over a period when there has been so much government rhetoric on closing the gap, improving life chances and, most recently, ‘levelling up’ seems completely contradictory.
“If the government is genuinely committed to ensuring that children and families are able to access the support they need, they need to invest in the services that deliver this.”
The average fall in the number of total children’s centre sites, including linked centres, is 18 per cent since 2010, said the Alliance.
It added that 82 council areas have seen a fall in the total number of centres since 2010.
“Councils are reconfiguring services to deliver them more efficiently,” said Quince.
“If a council decides to close a children’s centre, statutory guidance is clear that they should demonstrate that local children and families would not be adversely affected, and local areas continue to have sufficient children’s centres to meet their needs.”
The government wants to create a network of family hubs to offer support across the UK. But Hayes has dismissed these as a “pale imitation” of the range of help offered through children’s centres.
Under the plans the government want to establish the hubs in 75 local authorities over the next three yeas at a cost of £82m.
