Nursery World - Children's Centres: Centre funding slashed

The extent of the shortfall in children's centre funding has been highlighted by a regional report, showing that Sure Start providers in some areas have had budgets slashed by 40 per cent year on year.

Destinations Unknown, published last week by Children Matter East and VCS Engage, said that Sure Start Children's Centres in the Eastern Region had seen a median cut in funding of 18 per cent for 2007/2008, which was likely to result in reduced services and redundancies. Commissioning of the wider sector by Sure Start programmes has dropped by up to 70 per cent in the last year.

Over 80 per cent of the voluntary organisations who took part in the study said they were bidding to lead a Phase 2 Children's Centre. They felt this was the only way to retain funding levels and continue to deliver services in the local area.

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