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By Rachel Lawler

Nadhim Zahawi has announced that plans for a government consultation on the future of children’s centres have been dropped.

 

to the Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry into the evidence-base for early intervention, Zahawi said that the Department for Education (DfE) would not be going ahead with the consultation.

 

Instead, the DfE plans to partner with the Local Government Association on The Early Years Social Mobility Peer Review Programme, which will be piloted this summer and fully rolled out in September.

 

The consultation was first announced in 2016 and has been several times since.

 

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said: “I doubt many in the early years sector will be surprised by this announcement. Nevertheless it is incredibly disappointing that, in the time it has taken ministers to decide not to hold a consultation on the future of children’s centres, dozens of these vital services have gone without inspection and .

 

“Successive ministers have talked about the importance of social mobility – but such rhetoric is hard to justify as more and more families go without the support children’s centres provide.

 

“If the government truly wants to support disadvantaged and vulnerable families, it must urgently ensure children’s centres are adequately supported. This is no longer purely a matter of funding, but also a much clearer policy on the future of children’s centres in terms of what they are meant to achieve for the communities they serve.”

 

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