Goverments Vision

Children’s Centres are at the heart of the government’s Every Child Matters: Change for Children Agenda as they are a key vehicle for providing the services families need.

The government’s vision is a Children’s Centre for every community providing all families with young children access to a variety of services.

The main purpose for a Children’s Centre is to improve the outcomes for young children as set out in Every Child Matters, and in particular to close the gap between those children that do well and those children that don’t.

For the first time there is legislation in place in relation to children’s well being and their early years. The Childcare Act, 2006, introduces new duties for local authorities and their partners, aimed at improving outcomes for all children and reducing inequalities.

The Government’s vision is for Local Authorities together with key partners in the statutory, private and voluntary sectors to set up and run 3,500 Children’s Centres by 2010. A Children’s Centre for every community.

The government has produced a variety of guidance documents:

• Sure Start Children’s Centre Practise Guidance
• Governance Guidance for Sure Start Children’s Centres and Extended Schools
• Sure Start Children’s Centres: Phase 3 Planning and Delivery  (752.07 KB)
• Planning Performance and Management Guidance
• National Standards for Leaders of Sure Start Children’s Centres
• Delivering Health Services through Sure Start Children’s Centres (DoH)
• Linking Up – Delivering Health Services through Sure Start Children’s Centres