Children's centres face cash shortfall

Heads of early years services have warned that the level of capital funding from the Government for the second wave of children's centres is inadequate and will pose a massive challenge to reaching targets set for 2008. The £947m announced by children's minister Margaret Hodge on 4 April includes capital funding for the Government's drive to create 2,500 children's centres by 2008 and revenue funding, both for the new centres and to sustain those already in the pipeline.