division_name: Opposition Day &#8212; [15th Allotted Day] &#8212; Sure Start Children&#8217;s Centres
motion: <p class="" pid="f.182.1/1" pwmotiontext="yes">I beg to move,</p>
  
  <p class="" pid="f.182.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House believes that improving the life chances of children and young people from all backgrounds should be central to Government policy; recognises that the Sure Start network of 3,600 Children&#8217;s Centres, introduced by the previous administration, is crucial in delivering high quality early education and early intervention for children, as well as support, advice and specialist services for parents and carers; notes that the funding to local authorities for the Early Intervention Grant in 2011-12 represents a real terms cut of 22.4 per cent. nationally, compared to the 2010-11 allocations before in-year cuts to area based grants; recognises that, in the context of this cut to early intervention funding, the large, front-loaded cuts to other local authority funding streams, and the removal of the ring-fence around Sure Start funding, Sure Start Children&#8217;s Centres will inevitably be put at risk; notes that before the General Election the Prime Minister promised to protect and strengthen Sure Start; and therefore calls on the Government to protect the Sure Start network of Children&#8217;s Centres by thinking again about their deep cuts to Sure Start funding, to monitor the evidence and, if local authorities are choosing to disinvest in Sure Start centres, to commit to reinstating the ring-fence for Sure Start funding to ensure that vital and valued services are not lost.</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="f.231.1/1" pwmotiontext="yes">Question put.</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="f.231.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="f.231.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 207, Noes 312.</p>