Recently in SureStart Category

The report reveals that while most countries put fewer resources into services for the youngest children than other age groups, services from birth provide a huge amount of support to parents and children. Parents develop better parenting skills, the research says, while children receive the social, emotional and educational benefits of learning from their peers.

The report also says that full integrated education and care services are ideal for young children.

photo credit: Ryan Leighty

A growing number of reports are pointing to councils making big decisions about SureStart centres. There were conflicting reports early this week about London's Hammersmith & Fulham, some saying the council planned to ditch funding for centres, but this one went straight to the source (the DCS), and found out the council plans merely to stop running them- the funding will continue.

This is still a major adjustment, despite being less drastic than Derby's move to close six children's centres altogether, according to reports. Westminster's centres have also been in the news, with the City Council Labour Group saying SureStart is under direct threat from the council's cuts of nearly £1.7m to early intervention services.

Labour in Westminster is kicking up a major fuss about this possibility - which the council has told Community Care is still just a possibility, by the way - but would the impact of these closures on social care really be all bad? Late last year directors urged MPs not to ring-fence Sure Start funding, saying that in many cases, the money would be better spent on other forms of early intervention. The call came shortly after an investigation by ITV1's breakfast show Daybreak, which revealed that 99 out of 152 local authorities were unable to give any commitment to maintaining funding for the centres.

The trend is only just beginning, but I'm sure we haven't heard the end of it-- for the moment though, we'll have to wait and see.

photo credit: LindaH