MPs urge long-term funding certainty for children’s centres

16 Dec 13
Ministers should consider setting out multi-year funding plans for children’s centres as part of a long-term plan for early years education, according to the Commons education committee.

By Richard Johnstone | 17 December 2013

Ministers should consider setting out multi-year funding plans for children’s centres as part of a long-term plan for early years education, according to the Commons education committee.

In a report examining the effectiveness of Sure Start and other centres across the country, the MPs also urged the government to undertake a review of their role. This should seek to ensure their core purpose is focused on achievable and measureable outcomes, and new national standards should be used to increase the accountability of individual centres in preparing children for school.

Today’s Foundation years: Sure Start children’s centres report said ministers should consider how it is possible to provide a longer term view of children’s centre funding within current spending decision cycles. The Department for Education should also resume the nationwide collection of data on the reach of individual centres in local areas, to identify both good and poor practice.

Committee chair Graham Stuart said the centres were vital as ‘education is too important to wait until children reach school age’.

He added: ‘The government needs to prove that it is serious about closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged children by setting out coherent, long-term thinking on early years and children’s centres.

‘The government also needs to be clear what children’s centres should be offering and who they are for. We identified three different types of centres but this is not reflected in current policy. We also found that the stated core purpose is far too vague and broad. The core purpose needs to focus on achievable outcomes and reflect the difference between centres, especially where they do not offer early education or childcare.’

The report also called for a new duty to be placed on councils to put children in need and their families in contact with services, including children’s centres.

Local authorities must be clear about the outcomes they expect from programmes run by centres and their own role in commissioning them, the MPs added. Town halls should also be given a greater role in the governance of children’s centres linked to their statutory duty.

‘We want stronger accountability for how well individual children’s centres perform and, critically, for how effectively local authorities use children centres to improve outcomes for children in their areas,’ Stuart added.

‘Closing children’s centres should go ahead only after proper consultation and where alternative options have been considered. While some changes may make the network as a whole more effective, it should be up to local authorities to decide how best to organise and commission services.’

Responding to the report, a Department for Education spokeswoman said that a record number of more than a million parents were now using children’s centres.

'Councils are best placed to decide how to organise these services and we are increasing funding for early intervention to £2.5 billion to help them meet local need,' she added.

'We are extending free early education to 260,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds because the evidence shows high quality early education helps ensure children do not fall behind their peers before they reach school. We have also increased free early education for three- and four-year-olds to fifteen hours a week, encouraged schools to offer more childcare and made it easier for good and outstanding childminders to offer free early education.'

Spacer

CIPFA logo

PF Jobsite logo

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top