Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to the Sure Start programme in each local authority; and how many families accessed health and support from the Sure Start programme within each local authority in each of the last five years.

Funding for children's services (including children's centres) gives local authorities the freedom to decide how best to target resources and respond flexibly to meet local need. Local authorities must meet their statutory duties on children’s centres from funding that currently forms part of the Department for Communities and Local Government Business Rates Retention Scheme.

Since April 2010, local authorities have reported expenditure on children’s centres (combined with early years) through annual Section 251 returns. This information is published at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data#local-authority-and-school-finance.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/section-251-materials.

Other government funding, including that for public health, adult skills training and troubled families may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, through children’s centres.

The department does not hold data on the number of families that access health and support services through children’s centres centrally. This data is held at a local area level.