Almost a quarter of children’s centres across the UK have been forced to close or merge as a result of government funding cuts over the past five years, according to children’s charity Barnardo’s.
Children’s centres saw funding slashed by over 35 per cent - from £1.2bn to an estimated £740m – between the years 2010 and 2015, the charity said.
A loss on the same scale over the next five years could result in a further decline of £92m per year, it said. The figures are based on annual returns from local authorities.
Most children's centres are local authority-funded, and many but not all are run by charities, Barnardo's said.
A spokeswoman for the charity said there was a “huge amount of debate” about exactly how many children’s centres have closed.
Department for Education reports indicate that 3,631 centres were designated in April 2010, while recent government figures put the 2014 number of children's centres at 2,816, she said.
“This doesn’t mean circa 800 centres will have closed. Some of this will be due to centres merging. There’s a lot of debate between Labour and Conservatives about whether centres have closed outright or merged so the figures are quite contentious,” the spokeswoman said.
Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said cuts to basic early support “will only result in increased costs in the future”.
“Without the vital support of children's centres to the poorest children and families, we are simply neglecting the seeds of more costly problems later in the shape of troubled families, crime, substance abuse and unemployment,” he said.
'Plug the drain'
Barnardo’s is urging the government to “plug the drain in funding to children’s centres by ensuring local authorities have the funding to prioritise these important services”.
It has also called for protection of existing funding for state schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, such as the Pupil Premium and Free School Meals.
Vicki Lant, head of children's centre development for Barnardo’s, told Civil Society News that charities specialising in child care are thinking of innovative ways to support local authorities and add value to their own services - including corporate partnerships like Barnardo’s Five to Thrive programme sponsored by John Lewis.
“The main reductions must be in management and back office costs in order to preserve staff offering front-line services to families,” she said.
