Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) children’s centres and (b) Sure Start centres are open during the covid-19 outbreak.

The decision whether to keep Sure Start children’s centres open in response to COVID-19 is one for local authorities. Data on the number of children’s centres open during the COVID-19 outbreak is held at a local level.

Data on Sure Start children’s centres sites is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database portal at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk.

Local authorities are required to update their children’s centre records on a regular basis to reflect any permanent changes that they make to their children’s centre provision. However, the GIAS does not provide facility for local authorities to report temporary closures.