Labour and campaigners express concern as government figures show 156 children’s centres closed in 2015, up from 85

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Labour and an early-years charity have expressed alarm after government figures showed that 156 Sure Start children’s centres closed in England in 2015, almost double the number which shut the previous year.

The Labour MP Dan Jarvis, who used a written parliamentary question to get the figures from Caroline Dinenage, the junior education minister, said the closures were “deeply concerning” and called on Dinenage to explain the situation to parliament.

The Pre-school Learning Alliance, which campaigns on early years issues, said the scale of closures appeared to run counter to the government’s narrative on improving life chances across society.

Sure Start centres were launched by the then Labour government in 1998, with a particular remit to provide early help to infants from disadvantaged backgrounds before they started school.

Dinenage’s answer showed that increasing numbers of the centres had shut under the coalition and Conservative governments, with 12 closing in 2011, 27 in 2012 and 33 in 2013. In 2014 the number increased to 85, and then 156 last year.

As of 31 October this year there were 3,259 main children’s centres remaining, she added.

The Department for Education has previously explained closures of Sure Start centres by saying many of the cuts involve reorganisations or mergers, denying any large-scale reduction in capacity.

But Jarvis said the government needed to explain the figures. “Sure Start centres are a proven success,” he said. “They provide families with childcare in addition to being a one-stop shop for extra support with things like healthcare or securing job opportunities.

“This shows how wrong the Conservatives’ priorities are. Because every Sure Start centre that is lost closes a door on a child’s chance to get on in life.

“A child’s earliest years are critical to their future life chances. So early interventions like Sure Start should be the priority, because it is a smart investment for the future and it will give children the best start in life.

“With child poverty set to rise by 50% over this parliament, thousands of families will be affected by these closures. We will all pay for this failure in years to come.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said the figures were worrying.

“Children’s centres are a vital source of advice and practical support for families – especially those more disadvantaged families – and so for so many to be disappearing at a time when there is so much government rhetoric on ‘closing the gap’ and improving children’s life chances seems completely contradictory,” he said.

“Worse still, a growing number of those children’s centres that remain open are unable to offer much more than a skeleton service due to lack of adequate funding, meaning that even more vulnerable families are finding it difficult to access the support they need.

“This is clearly not a sustainable situation and so we urge the government to set out its – now long overdue – strategy for securing the future of children’s centres as a matter of priority.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said it remained committed to giving children the best start in life, and was spending record amounts on childcare.

She said: “Many councils are merging centres to allow services to be delivered more efficiently. Where they decide to close a children’s centre site, they must demonstrate that the outcomes for children would not be adversely affected and will not compromise the duty to have sufficient children’s centres to meet local need.”