Nursery World - Report highlights the diversity of provision in children's centres in deprived areas

Stay and Play is the most commonly run service offered by children's centres in deprived areas, according to new research into the way centres are managed and the type of provision they offer.

Forty-six different services and programmes were available, with 82 per cent of centres providing early education and childcare.

Seven in ten children's centres are managed by local authorities.

The first report from the Evaluation of Children's Centres in England (ECCE) draws on a survey and phone interviews with children's centre leaders in Phase 1 and 2 centres. More than 500 children's centre leaders in deprived areas took part in the survey between July and September last year and some of them will be approached next year to monitor any changes.

The report highlights the diversity of provision and the rapidly changing environment for children's centres. The six-year evaluation by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the University of Oxford and Frontier Economics was commissioned by the Department for Education.

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