Nursery World - Spending on Sure Start has halved in eight years

New figures show investment in Sure Start has continued to decline with local authority spending on centres falling by £763 million since 2010.

New National Audit Office (NAO) figures on the Financial Sustainability of Local Authorities show that spending on Sure Start has almost halved (-49.6 per cent), with spending falling by £763m between 2010-2017.

During the same period, central government funding of local authorities fell by around 50 per cent, according to the NAO's report.

The latest figures represent a further decline in spending on those provided by the Department in Education last year, which showed local authorities in England spent £658 million less in 2015-16 than they did in 2010-11 on Sure Start and early years.

Data released last year by the Department for Education revealed that more than 370 children's centres have closed since 2010.

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