Barnet’s Labour councillors have welcomed today’s announcement of four new early years hubs in Barnet from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
The hubs, to be led by the Barnet Early Years Alliance, will provide support for parents with children under 5 years old, including help with access to affordable child care, early years education and family support practitioners. Each hub will receive £175,000 in funding.
The hubs are being located in places where the take-up of free early years education places is lower than the London average. The Mayor has pledged to improve access to high quality affordable early years education for London’s most disadvantaged children.
Under the Conservatives in Barnet eight children centres out of 21 have been closed.
Labour’s Children’s Services spokesperson, Cllr Pauline Coakley Webb said: “It’s great news that the Mayor has announced these early years hubs in Barnet.
“Early education is crucial for children to get the best start in life, and access to affordable child care helps those parents wanting to return to work or training.
“The Barnet Conservatives closed eight of the children’s centres introduced under the last Labour government, and this has meant fewer families get access to the support they need in those important early years of a child’s life.”