Building on our achievements
Posted by Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, at 08:52, Mon 25 June 2007:
With the Prime Minister’s imminent departure many constituents have asked me for my views on the last ten years of Labour Government. Well, of course there are many things that I am proud of but also some areas where I feel more needs to be done – I think this is inevitable in politics.
This month I was fortunate to visit a local Sure Start centre in Hemlington. The Sure Start scheme highlights an area where I have both of the feelings I outlined – of being proud of the initiative we have brought in, yet also recognising that the issues it addresses remain a problem in the UK. Indeed the problems Sure Start tackles are a key reason why I am in politics.
The scheme is part of the Government’s agenda to eliminate child poverty by 2020. Essentially Sure Start is a free service provided by the Government which supports parents right through from pregnancy until the child reaches 14, or 16 if they have special needs. One aspect of the service is to provide information and support on a range of issues such as parenting, health, employment, childcare etc. A further element is to develop and support high quality childcare in the community.
What is perhaps the most useful aspect for parents is the free childcare now available. Children aged three and four are entitled to 12.5 hours of free early years education for 38 weeks per year and the Government has committed to increase this to 15 hours per week by 2010. None of these services or targets were in place ten years ago – so I think the 1,306 Sure Start centres we now have, with places for over 1 million children, are a real achievement.
In Middlesbrough there are eight centres, providing over 5,500 childcare places, with six centres in Redcar and Cleveland catering for over 3,000 children. The Government’s target is to have 3,500 centres in the UK by 2010 and £2.2million in extra investment has been granted to Middlesbrough as part of this drive.
A recent study showed that even at the early age of 3, low levels of family wealth have an adverse effect on development levels of children, for instance in the extent to which they are ready for school and on their reading ability.
Addressing findings like this, the UK now invests more money per child in the early years than any other country apart from the USA. It must be right that we do so. In a Unicef report on children which was published last year – but which was importantly based upon figures up to a decade old – the UK scored very poorly in a range of areas for child welfare. I was pleased though to see independent research last November showing that in comparison with 1998, 700,000 fewer children are living in poor households today. The high level of investment has been necessary for us to turn the situation around.
We do of course need to keep up this progress, particularly if we are to meet our targets on child poverty. I believe that the concrete steps like Sure Start, which puts the flesh on the bones of our investment, are the key to improving things for our children.
If you wish to get in touch with me about any of these issues, or on any other matters, please do not hesitate to do so by calling 01287 610878, e-mailing ashokkumarmp@parliament.uk, or writing to Ashok Kumar MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. Alternatively feel free to leave comments on the website www.hearfromyourmp.com to join in the debate.
Commenting on this message is now disabled.