and support and the amalgamation of settings has increased their
responsibilities and workloads.
The latest reports by the team carrying out the Evaluation of Children's Centres in England (ECCE) reveal that centre staff are being overstretched as they try to juggle providing support to a growing number of vulnerable families while continuing to run open-access services.
Alongside this, reduced local authority budgets have led to cuts in funding for children's centres, affecting opening hours and staffing.
The publication of the reports precede an announcement by the childcare minister Sam Gyimah that the Government is to launch a consultation on children's centres in the autumn.
Writing exclusively for Nursery World, Mr Gyimah said that while their value was obvious, 'the reality is not enough children's centres are "good" or "outstanding", and as a result they aren't helping families in the way they should be. We have to collectively look into why that is the case.'
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