Row over child centre funding

Three children’s centres in Rochdale could be axed under spending cuts announced by the Tories, it has been claimed.

The Labour Party said a Tory commitment to slash £200m from the national Sure Start budget would be the equivalent of closing one in five children's centres — meaning three would be at risk across the town.

Sure Start centres, which provide a place for parents to access a range of childcare, health and family advice, have proved popular with parents since the first facilities were set up a decade ago.

Labour claims that, nationally, if one in five centres closed, 569 of the 2,919 centres in England could face an uncertain future if the Tories win the next general election — which has to be held by May, 2010, at the latest.

Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes MP said: “Sure Start children’s centres make a massive difference to parents and under-fives up and down the country.

“By 2010 we will have a children’s centre in every community — 3,500 across the country — and each one of them will soon be linked to a named health visitor.

“But all that would be put at risk by the Conservative Party’s proposed cuts, which would mean closing one in five children’s centres across the country.”

A Tory Party spokesman rejected Labour’s claims.

The spokesman explained it wanted to divert £200m that the Government had earmarked for a new army of outreach workers — to persuade more families to take advantage of their local children’s centres — with 4,200 additional trained health visitors, who would be able to give practical help to parents in the days following their child’s birth.

He said the Tories had promised to match Labour’s overall spending allocation for the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

He added: “We have no plans to close any Sure Start centres. Their figures are not based on reality.”