The Government wants to ensure that the flagship Sure Start programme is enshrined in law, and has launched a public consultation today. Despite the fact that most communities now have a centre, Sure Start Children’s Centres (SSCC) have no defined identity in law– they are currently just one way in which local authorities and their partners can choose to provide integrated early childhood services to meet their duties under the Childcare Act 2006.
The purpose of the proposed legislation is to establish SSCCs as a legally recognised part of the universal infrastructure for children’s services, so that they become a long term statutory commitment and part of the established landscape of early years provision.

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11 September 2008
© Department for Children, Schools and Families