Catherine McKinnell MP challenged the Minister on the Government’s record on Sure Start closures again today (20th
November), during a Westminster Hall debate on the cost of childcare.
The Newcastle North MP’s speech this afternoon came just a day after she slammed the Coalition’s approach to supporting Sure Start during an Opposition Day debate in the Commons (19th November).
Catherine pressed the Childcare Minister to explain how the Government’s own figures indicate that there are 579 fewer Sure Start Children’s Centres across the country since the Coalition came to power in 2010. She also asked what assessment has been made of proposed Sure Start closures, in light of the fact that the £108million funding gap currently faced by Newcastle City Council has seen services at all twenty Sure Start centres across the city now put ‘under review’ – after all Sure Starts in her Newcastle North constituency had already been at risk.
Catherine went on to urge the Minister to provide greater clarity on statutory guidance provided in April 2013 to local authorities on Sure Start provision, which simply states that councils should ensure that ‘children’s centres and their services are within reasonable reach of all families with young children in urban and rural areas, taking into account distance and availability of transport’.
Speaking after the debate, Catherine commented:
‘Coalition Ministers continue to bury their heads in the sand about the impact that their spending cuts are having – and will have – on some of the most vulnerable children and families in cities like Newcastle.
‘The straight fact is that every Sure Start centre in Newcastle North has been scheduled for closure by 2015 – and now all services in the city are under review – as a result of the dire financial situation the Council finds itself in.
‘This is extremely worrying for families across my constituency, and I believe will only stack up longer term costs for society and public services when the advice, support and affordable childcare provided by Sure Start is taken away.’
More information on Catherine’s speech on the same issue yesterday is available here: http://www.catherinemckinnell.co.uk/tyneside-mp-slams-government-on-sure-start-record/