Nursery World - Cuts Watch: What's happening to children's centres around the country

Our regular round-up of how Sure Start is faring in different local authorities.

East Sussex County Council says that it is facing a reduction of 20 per cent in its Early Intervention Grant for 2011/2012 compared with equivalent grants for 2010/2011 and that it has lost several other funding streams for children's services.It says that this is likely to mean a 25 per cent reduction in children's centre services over the medium term.

According to plans due to be discussed at a cabinet meeting after Nursery World went to press, the local authority plans to close around eight children's centres, to widen the geographical reach of the remaining centres and to concentrate its resources on settings in the 20 per cent most deprived areas. It says that it will remove access to grant funding from settings where standards fall rather than invest in improvement support, a move it admits could be 'controversial', particularly in rural areas.

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