Children's Centres

Mr. Francois
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children's centres have been set up in each year since the 2003 pre-Budget report.

Beverley Hughes
The following table provides a breakdown of the number of designated Sure Start children's centres at the end of each financial year from 31 March 2004 to 31 March 2006:

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|Date (by 31 March each year)|New Sure Start children's centres|
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|2004                        |66                               |
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|2005                        |161                              |
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|2006                        |609                              |
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|Total                       |836                              |
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The children's centre programme has now entered its second phase with a target to create a total of 2,500 children's centres by March 2008.