Sharon used her time at the Despatch Box to criticise Ministers after the Government finally admitted that Sure Start Children’s Centres had closed since they had come to power – the first time that they had publicly acknowledged the impact of their cuts to the Early Intervention Grant.

The exchange was as follows:

Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab): Last week the Department finally admitted that the Government’s damaging cuts to early years are resulting in services being withdrawn and children’s centres being decommissioned and having to close their doors to parents, but we all know that those figures are just the beginning. Councils are now looking ahead to the next financial year, with the reserves drained and the easy cuts having already been made. How many centres will have to close before this out-of-touch Government and out-of-touch Secretary of State admit their mistakes and save our Sure Starts?

Sarah Teather: Our survey suggests that there have been six closures and 124 mergers since last year, out of a total that started at 3,631, so there has been a 3% change in the number of Sure Start children’s centres, demonstrating that most local authorities are not only doing the best in what are, I recognise, very difficult circumstances, just as they are for the Government. Those authorities are prioritising services on the ground and that is certainly what we are encouraging them to do, as we ask them to publish the information on what they spend, under the new transparency requirements that the Government have introduced. Similarly, payments by results will focus them much more on outcomes.

You can read the exchange in context on Hansard, or watch it on Parliament TV.

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Sharon Hodgson MP
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