There are concerns among children's centre managers that as the Government cuts back on grants to Sure Start local programmes, which have been transformed into children's centres, it is expecting the new centres to survive on a much lower level of funding than previously planned.
Coventry City Council is understood to be facing a 1m reduction in its Sure Start budget. A council spokeswoman said, 'Coventry, in line with other local authorities, will experience a reduction in grant allocation from Government for Sure Start local programmes from April 2007.
'Planning for this reduction is already taking place to develop new partnerships and to minimise the impact.' Coventry's budget for 2007/08 will be finalised by the council on 20 February.
Meanwhile, a proposal by East Sussex County Council to slash 500,000 from its children's centres budget, part of a plan to shave 8m from services, has been shelved. A council spokeswoman said the cut had been scaled back to 100,000 'due to further budget planning work'.
'These savings will not threaten current services or the roll-out of children's centres across the county, although they may slow down some of the planned future development of children's centre services.'
In Calderdale, Yorkshire, plans to create nine new children's centres have been left in doubt because of a 355,000 funding shortfall in building projects worth more than 4.5m. Council officers have been asked to consider how they can cut the costs of each project to bring it in line with the budget.