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Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 15 December 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 January 2010. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Thursday, 25 February 2010 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Children's Centres: East Sussex

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many children's centres there were in (a) Lewes constituency and (b) East Sussex in each year since 1997;
Answer

The following table details how many designated Sure Start children's centres there were in (a) Lewes constituency and (b) East Sussex local authority in each year since 2004 (there were none previous to this).

Table 1: Designated Sure Start children's centres
Lewes constituency East Sussex
2004 1 1
2005 0 4
2006 0 5
2007 1 13
2008 0 5
2009 3 7
Total 5 35

In East Sussex local authority, there are 35 designated Sure Start children's centres which have a combined reach area of over 24,000 children under five and their families. Of these, six are in Lewes constituency and have a reach area of over 5,000 children under five and their families.Reach area defines those children and families with the opportunity to access Sure Start children's centres. Figures for the number of people actually using children's centres are not collected centrally.In 2008-09, East Sussex local authority spent £4,119,141 on children's centres revenue funding; £4,189,109 on Sure Start local programmes; and £446,448 on children's centres capital funding. This is the latest 12-month period for which spend figures are available.The Department allocates funding to local authorities for Sure Start children's centres, and its predecessor Sure Start local programmes, through the Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant. It is for local authorities to determine how to allocate the funding between individual centres. The Department does not collect information on how much is allocated and spent at individual centre level.The allocations for Children's Centres for East Sussex for 2008-09 to 2010-11 are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare grant allocations for East Sussex local authority
Revenue Capital
Main Revenue Block SSLP Block Main Capital Block
Children's centres Total main revenue Sure Start local programmes Children's Centres Total Main Capital
2008-09 3,995,304 7,360,556 3,460,552 698,435 2,771,127
2009-10 5,261,515 8,358,567 3,154,933 1,456,072 3,528,764
2010-11 6,348,245 10,101,509 2,886,240 872,667 2,945,359
Total 3,995,304 7,360,556 3,460,552 698,435 2,771,127

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
506 c688-9W; 308453
Session
2009-10
Subjects
East Sussex Children's centres
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk