Did you vote Conservative?
Did you vote Lib Dem?
If you did, you did this:
A nationwide survey of Sure Start children’s centre managers across England, carried out by 4Children and Daycare Trust, found that 250 children’s centres are at risk of closure, a further 2,000 are cutting back the services they offer to families and 1,000 are issuing “at risk of redundancy notices†to staff. As many as 3,100 centres (86%) will have a decreased budget. Liberal Conspiracy
What was Sure Start?
Labour’s great legacy was 3,500 Sure Start children’s centres, most densely provided in the poorest places. The politically neutral Institute for Government this week listed Sure Start and the minimum wage among the most successful government policies of the last 30 years. Here at last, with universal nursery education for 3- and 4-year-olds and intensive family help, is the missing cradle in the cradle-to-grave welfare promise. Polly Toynbee 2010
In any clash over priorities, the under-fives are always sacrificed first. Polly Toynbee 2005
As many as 60,000 families could lose their local centre
So if you voted for this coalition I hope you are proud of your decision.