Nursery World - At what cost? (1)

An assessment of the children's centre programme based on visits to centres around the country points up what it may need to succeed. Simon Vevers reports The clock is ticking. The Government has 14 months to reach its target of 2,500 children's centres by 2008. By last September there were 1,000 centres, made up of around 500 Sure Start Local programmes, 420 neighbourhood nurseries and 70 early excellence centres - a rapid acceleration of the programme from September 2005, when there were 350.

The clock is ticking. The Government has 14 months to reach its target of 2,500 children's centres by 2008. By last September there were 1,000 centres, made up of around 500 Sure Start Local programmes, 420 neighbourhood nurseries and 70 early excellence centres - a rapid acceleration of the programme from September 2005, when there were 350.

Children's minister Beverley Hughes recently hailed the success of the children's centre programme and pointed to the fact that it had exceeded its national target to reach 650,000 children in phase one, which was achieved by March 2006.

But a more detached, objective assessment is being made by the team conducting the national evaluation of the programme's effectiveness, and benefits may not be measurable for some years - a point made forcibly in a National Audit Office (NAO) report released just before Christmas. The report, based on visits to 30 children's centres in 27 local authorities and focus groups with parents, does provide important pointers to some of the gains to be celebrated and the weaknesses to be addressed.

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