Sure Start closures evidence

FamilyPlans is compiling public evidence on Sure Start closures and the Best Start Family Hubs rollout. This page is the public entry point. Our methodology, verification levels, and source list are published in full at /research/sure-start-closures/methodology.

What we publish

• Individual centre records, where we have a primary source for the specific location, with the source URL and verification status.
• Council-level aggregate counts where we don't yet hold individual records.
• Successor links from former Sure Start centres to current Family Hubs where establishable.
• A downloadable dataset under CC BY 4.0 once our coverage is sufficient to share usefully.

Current state

We hold:

• 0 centres with primary-source verified closure evidence.
• 0 classified as transitioned (re-purposed rather than fully closed).
• 0 with explicit Family Hub successor links.
• 0 aggregate-only records (council total without individual evidence).

We deliberately do not publish one fixed national headline figure (e.g. “1,416 closures since 2010”). Counts are computed from records and exposed with verification levels. See the methodology page for the definitions.

Map readiness

We will add the map once there are enough verified records for it to help parents, journalists, and researchers understand the local picture. Until then, this page shows the evidence counts we can stand behind and links every council-level record back to its verification status.

Browse by council

No per-council records yet. As we add council pages and FOI responses, councils will appear here. Track current source-refresh status at /methodology/scrapers.

Get involved

If you have evidence we'd find useful - council communications, FOI responses, local press archives - please contact us. We attribute contributors on the methodology page where they consent.