Finally all our pestering has paid off! At last the Government have relented and announced a timescale for their long-delayed consultation on the future of Children’s Centres. It’ll now be in Summer 2016 – exactly a year after it was first announced. Still: better late than never. Worryingly, rather than the inclusive, stand alone consultation we … More Hallejuah!
Oh dear. The Government has been caught red-handed trying to hide politically embarrassing new research on the impact of Sure Start. Politically embarrassing because this same Government has halved Sure Start funding and is constantly talking the programme down. Awkwardly the new Oxford University research proves once again that Sure Start provides a truly transformative service for … More Sure Start works. Government policy doesn’t.
Remember July? Sunshine. Summer holidays approaching. And a surprisingly encouraging comment from Tory Childcare Minister, Sam Gyimah: “There is one particular issue that is a priority for me – the future of Children’s Centres.” Really, Minister? Us too!
Still no sign of that consultation on the future of Children’s Centres. It’s a ghost consultation especially for Halloween. Take a look at our Director, Michael Pavey’s blog for the Huffington Post.
Sure Start transforms lives forever. It is one of Labour’s greatest ever achievements and it is under brutal attack by the Tories. Labour Friends of Sure Start believes that the future of our Children’s Centres should be a key issue in this Leadership contest. So we wrote to every candidate for Leader and Deputy Leader … More Leadership Candidate Mary Creagh writes on Children’s Centres
The day before the general election David Cameron was asked for a guarantee that children centres would continue to receive funding, he replied: “Yes, we back Sure Start. It’s a disgrace that Gordon Brown has been trying to frighten people about this.” Yet shortly after coming to power in 2010 the government combined 18 revenue … More Target Seats and Sure Start
On the 11th March the Education Committee took evidence from Sam Gyimah MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Childcare and Education, in a follow-up session to the Committee’s inquiry into Sure Start children’s centres.
