Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the national consultation on the future of children’s centres will be launched; what its terms of reference will be; and what the timetable is for responses to be received and the Government to announce its proposals.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We value the services provided by children’s centres. We intend to consult to see what role children’s centres should play to ensure they are able to have the most impact as part of integrated local services for families. An independent survey carried out by the national children’s charity, 4Children (published October 2015) estimated more than a million children and families are now using children’s centres.

The consultation will offer parents, carers, local authorities and key stakeholders the opportunity to influence and drive what we expect from children’s centre services and where we see them having the greatest impact. We plan to launch the consultation shortly.