Children’s centres will serve children and families in disadvantaged communities and will provide integrated care and education for young children, health services, family support and a base for childminders. This integrated approach by children’s centres will provide holistic support for children’s development, support to families with young children and will facilitate the return to work of those parents who are currently unemployed.

The locations for children’s centres have been identified to reflect the most deprived wards and areas in the city and maximise the use of capital and revenue funding available through SureStart Local Programmes over the next two years and into the future.

SureStart local programmes aim to improve the health and well-being of families and children before and from birth, so children are ready to flourish when they go to school. They do this by:

• setting up local Sure Start local programmes to improve services for families with children under four
  
  
• spreading good practice learned from local programmes to everyone involved in providing services for young children.