The figures were provided by the Government in response to a parliamentary question about the number of designated Sure Start children's centres that are in each local authority in England by shadow education secretary Angela Rayner.
The local authority with the largest number of centre closures between 2010 and 2019 was Essex, which started with 85 centres and now has just 19. The figures do not include children’s centre linked sites as they do not fall under the true definition of what a children’s centre is.
Other areas with big net losses of children’s centres include Staffordshire, which lost 46, and Birmingham, which lost 41 centres.
Separate analysis of the figures by the Early Years Alliance reveals that over a third of areas have seen the number of children’s centres fall by 50 per cent or more during the same period.
More than eight in 10 local authority areas (126 in total) have seen a fall in the number of children’s centres, while just two areas have seen any increase.
The areas which were worse affected in terms of the percentage of children’s centres they lost were Gateshead, losing 93 per cent, and Harrow, losing 88 per cent of centres.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘We know that children’s centres play a vital role in supporting children and families – and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds – but, for all the Government rhetoric about the importance of supporting social mobility, this is a policy area that has been completely neglected for years now.
‘Given the total lack of clear strategic direction from Government, alongside severe and sustained funding cuts, it is no surprise that many children centres have been forced to close their doors – and yet, it is still shocking to see the sheer scale of centre closures that some areas have endured over the last decade.
‘It beggars belief that such a vital source of help and support for families has effectively been abandoned. The Government needs to get its act together, commit to investing substantially into children’s centres, and ensure that all families have access to the early support services that they need.’