Children's centres are at the heart of the Government's new strategy to improve health outcomes for children, but in some parts of the country the ministerial vision of integrated services looks like a mere pipe dream.
Health secretary Alan Johnson and Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, launched their joint strategy document, Healthy Lives, Brighter Futures, last month. It describes their long-term plan to overcome health inequalities among children, particularly the rising levels of obesity and poor mental health.
The strategy for children, from pre-birth to 19 years of age, seeks to engage parents in the drive to give every child a healthy start to life, and community-based children's centres are seen as the best vehicle for this. The key role the ministers envisage for Sure Start children's centres in this campaign is underlined by their decision to establish the centres on a statutory legal basis to give them more clout when collaborating with health partners.
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