Nursery World - A long-term vision

As Kids' Clubs Network changes its name to 4Children it is reasserting its belief in the importance of support for children and families in the community and calling for a far more coherent vision for children, which puts children at the core. At the heart of the vision is support for children and their families which will be near to home, when they need it and throughout their childhood. The support would be delivered through 10,000 Children's Centres for birth to 16s which would be based around schools. The Centres would bring key services together into an integrated service - backed up by an integrated children's workforce and integrated children's funding programme.

At the heart of the vision is support for children and their families which will be near to home, when they need it and throughout their childhood. The support would be delivered through 10,000 Children's Centres for birth to 16s which would be based around schools. The Centres would bring key services together into an integrated service - backed up by an integrated children's workforce and integrated children's funding programme.

This would cost about 10bn a year over about ten years. A huge amount of money by anyone's reckoning. However, governments do spend large amounts on crucial services - around 61bn on education and 49bn on health in the year 2003/04. Governments also spend a huge amount on 'mending' when things go wrong and it is here that the long-term vision becomes crucial. 60bn each year is spent on crime reduction, huge amounts also on care services and much more.

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