Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Government plans to publish its consultation on the future of children's centres.

The Prime Minister has been clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government. We are considering the future direction for children’s centres and will provide further detail in due course, including how stakeholders and members of the public can contribute.

The requirement for Ofsted to undertake the inspections of Sure Start children’s centres is currently suspended pending the consideration of their future direction as mentioned above. The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions with Ofsted on the inspection of children’s centres.