One in five Sure Start centres has started charging parents for sessions that used to be offered free.
A report published by 4Children exposes how councils are being forced to cut back on services as a result of budget cuts, with many centres relying on volunteers as they heavily reduce numbers of childcare workers and qualified teachers. Fees are being levied on middle class families as a way of subsidising what is on offer for the poorest, it adds.
The findings come from a “census” of children’s centres by the charity 4Children. It reveals that:
- majority of centres have reduced staffing levels;
- 17 per cent plan to cut childcare workers in the next year. A similar number will lay-off qualified teachers;
- six out of ten have increased the number of volunteers;
- 50 per cent of centres say their “financial sustainability” has worsened in the past year,
One in ten centres — about 350 — say they are “struggling” financially.
