Announcing the launch of the public consultation into the legal statusof children's centres, at an event organised by the Pre-School LearningAlliance to celebrate the EYFS, Sheila Scales, director of Early Yearsat the Department for Children, Schools and Families, said the aim wasto 'put Sure Start children's centres on a firmer footing in legislationso that they will be a permanent part of the landscape in the way thatschools are'.
She said 2,909 children's centres were now open. The Government's targetis for 3,500 children's centres by March 2010 and it wants to give SSCCsa legal basis in the Education and Skills Bill.
In the consultation foreword, children's minister Beverley Hughes saidcentres currently had 'no established legal existence'. She wanted toensure they 'become an established part of the universal servicesavailable for young children and their families'. The consultationproposes giving children's centres legal status and will mean that infuture, whether an early childhood service is designated a SSCC will bea legal matter.
It proposes that provision of SSCCs 'is not seen as the outcome of atime-limited funding regime'.
Local authorities would be required to ensure there are sufficient SSCCsin their area and continue to consider whether private and voluntaryproviders can provide childcare or manage centres.
Speaking to Nursery World after the event, Steve Alexander, chiefexecutive of the Alliance, said the move to enshrine in law children'scentres and their continuity of service was 'a step in the rightdirection', but 'just decreeing that should happen doesn't necessarilyresolve problems underneath it'.
He said the real issue of the sustainability of children's centres wasnot being addressed, referring to figures in last month's 2007 Childcareand Early Years Providers Survey showing a high number of loss-makingcentres (News, 14 August).
'The vast majority of providers in the managed mixed market are facingreal challenges of survival and that can't lead towards stability andcontinuity of service,' he said.
The National Day Nurseries Association said high-quality centres werealready under threat.
Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, 'The NDNA is pleased theconsultation shares how children's centres are an integral part ofservices and not time-bound by funding, but with many concerns aroundsustainability, we would question, if funding ends, whether localauthorities will be then expected to find the money to keep children'scentres running.'
Daycare Trust joint chief executive Emma Knights said, 'Parents willwelcome a guarantee in law that future generations benefit from theservices SSCCs offer.'
