Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2022 to Question 23781 on Children's Centres, what estimate he has made of the number of children who have not had access to sure start services as a result of those closures.

Decisions on how best to meet the needs of the local population have always been for the council concerned. Sure Start children’s centres statutory guidance is clear that if a council decides to close a children’s centre, they should demonstrate that local children and families will not be adversely affected and local areas continue to have sufficient children’s centres to meet their needs.

The proportion of children starting year 1 with a good level of development went from around one in two in 2013, to nearly three out of four children in 2019. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a record proportion of children were starting Year 1 with a good level of development.

The department is committed to ensuring children and young people get the best start in life. In the 2021 Budget, the government announced a £500 million package for families. This includes a £200 million uplift to the Supporting Families programme taking total planned investment across the next 3 years to £695 million. This funding will help up to 300,000 more families facing multiple, interconnected issues to access effective support and improve their life outcomes.

£300 million of funding will be used to transform ‘Start for Life’ services and create a network of family hubs in half of council areas in England. This includes funding worth £81.75 million for a network of Family Hubs and £50 million for parenting programs. The department is committed to family hubs and will robustly evaluate the impact of the investment to gather best practice and inform future funding decisions.