The Sure Start All Party Parliamentary Group's interim report draws on findings from the inquiry sessions during 2011, which heard evidence from a number of local authorities and organisations.
The report said the picture that emerged was one of significant change and 'a notable lack of transparency' in regard to Sure Start at local and national level.
'Local authorities were often unable to state clearly basic information such as how many children's centres they operated, whether the services provided by those centres would be affected by budget cuts, and what the reaction to proposed changes to Sure Start delivery would be in affected communities,' the report said.
MPs said that if they 'had trouble getting to the bottom of what services are available in which local authority, there can be little doubt that a large number of families would find accessing those services very difficult.'
The group is calling on the Government to hold local authorities to account where they may be failing to provide families with the statutory required minimum level of services or where they are at risk of breaching their obligations under the Childcare Act 2006.
Annette Brooke, (pictured), the APPG's chair, said, 'The number of quality programmes that can be accessed by parents may well be more important than just focusing on the number of Sure Start centres available, but with the most recent Government figures showing that at least 124 centres have closed or merged since the coalition took power, there is a great concern among MPs from all the major parties that services for parents may be at risk.'
4Children, the group's secretariat, will carry out a children's centre census throughout England to track changes in provision and the impact of funding cuts.
The survey will ask centres about the number and type of staff they employ, the number of childcare places they provide, the mix between universal and targeted services, and whether centres charge for services.
