Destinations Unknown, published last week by Children Matter East and VCS Engage, said that Sure Start Children's Centres in the Eastern Region had seen a median cut in funding of 18 per cent for 2007/2008, which was likely to result in reduced services and redundancies. Commissioning of the wider sector by Sure Start programmes has dropped by up to 70 per cent in the last year.
Over 80 per cent of the voluntary organisations who took part in the study said they were bidding to lead a Phase 2 Children's Centre. They felt this was the only way to retain funding levels and continue to deliver services in the local area.
Voluntary and community sector respondents also said that while they expected to be commissioned to run Phase 3 children's centres, they predicted their annual budgets would be between £60,000 and £80,000, which would barely cover staff costs and leave little over to commission centre services.
Pre-school Learning Alliance chief executive Steve Alexander said, 'A 70 per cent reduction in commissioning is of huge concern, especially after the Stand and Deliver report (Special Report, 8 March), which revealed that the voluntary sector is subsidising a significant proportion of Government contracts.
'The Government wants a thriving PVI sector, but children's centres are struggling with sustainability and are not generating a surplus, which means there is no money to cover central running costs.'
The report said further pressure was being placed on the sector by uncertainty over the future of the Children's Fund and the Local Network Fund. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has confirmed it will continue to allocate £132m per year to the Children's Fund between 2008 and 2011, but the money will not be ringfenced, so local authorities could divert the funds away from children's services.
No indication has been given about the future of the Local Network Fund, which awards grants up to £7,000 to small voluntary sector projects aimed at helping young people.
Further information: www.vcsengage.org.uk.
