I would like to see anybody who has a problem with the children's centres writing to children's minister Beverley Hughes. She says they have 'delegated the decision-making on where and how the services will be delivered to local authorities' (letter received by myself on 8 November).
Yet local authorities say, 'The Government said it has to go in deprived areas,' whether or not there is too much provision.
Locally, a few years ago we had social services nurseries doing mostly what the children's centre are doing now. These were all shut down, staff moved around the local authority and the buildings bought or knocked down. We are now having new children's centres built. Where there is no provision they will be welcome, but elsewhere they will put a lot of private childcare establishments out of business. What is going to happen when the funding runs out for these children's centres?
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