David Cameron has firmly put the family at the heart of this General Election campaign. As a working mum with three school aged children, I know first-hand some of the real pressures facing families in Britain today and as Shadow Minister for the Family I believe that the policies of the Conservative Party will help ensure support for families is there, when they need it.
Sure Start Children’s Centres have our full commitment because they set out the foundations for family support in every community. Now the Centres are built, Labour thinks the job is done – they are wrong. The National Audit Office, Audit Commission and OFSTED have all criticised this Government’s failure to develop Sure Start in a way that supports the poorest and most vulnerable families in our communities. Our plans and vision for Sure Start will change that.
We will strengthen Sure Start for every family. Putting in place an extra 4,200 Sure Start Health Visitors – a new universal health visitor service, working through Sure Start to give every family access to the professional support they need in those critical early years. We know from research that trained health visitors are also the most effective way to reach families who are the poorest and most in need in our communities. The changes we plan will address the concerns raised about Sure Start and strengthen it for the future.
But I want to go further; we need people with the best understanding of family life working in our communities; organisations with a proven expertise in supporting families, particularly through tough times. Organisations like Action for Children, 4Children and Barnardos have that expertise and I want them involved in providing more, effective Sure Start services.
It is unforgivable that Labour has used the tactics of creating fear and anxiety amongst families and Sure Start staff as part of their political campaigning, by saying the Conservatives will close down Sure Start. We have clear policies and a clear vision for Sure Start. We know that with our policies Sure Start can work even harder to support our communities helping Britain to be the most family friendly country in Europe.
( 14 comments ) Tags: Audit Commission, Family, National Audit Office, OFSTED, Sure Start
Comment by Eveleigh on March 17, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Well said. I happen to know that a mass e-mailing from Ed Balls has gone out claiming that the Tories will remove SureStart from people on ‘modest incomes’. I suppose most incomes are modest when compared with the Balls/Cooper household income!
Comment by peter chapman on March 18, 2010 at 6:04 am
So how are the conservative party going to overcome this majority? You are likely to get a decent increase in the vote and probably going to be the largest party, but how is that going to help the country if you are not a majority government?
All the signs are that we are going to get a hung parliament – a country with the Conservative Party as the largest party but with the Liberal Democrats holding the power to defeat essential bills in the commons.
What is the conservative party doing to persuade the country otherwise?
Comment by John Laity on March 18, 2010 at 9:24 am
Yep, all three main parties are going to do great stuff for school aged children. Strike up another good news story on Pre-16 education.
STOP PLEASE. Yes Mothers in Marginal Labour Seats will win the election…We get it.
However the real and pressing problem for the UK is Adult Skills!
- A lack of investment in adult skills will seriously hinder an economic recovery
- A lack of investment in skills will lengthen the time that people stay unemployed, costing the UK tax payer MILLIONS in benefits payments
- A lack of investment in skills is a backward step in the UK’s ability to meet the challenges detailed by the UK Treasury’s 2006 Leitch Report and wastes a potential £80 BILLION Benefit to UK plc.
LABOUR ARE FAILING ON ADULT, WORK AND FUNCTIONAL SKILLS:
According to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) 2009 report, despite over £5 Billion spent on skills improvement, the number of UK Adults unable to read or write remains “unacceptably high”. The PAC goes on to point out that even if current Learning & Skills Council (LSC) targets for 2010 are met, the country’s basic skills will still not match the best in the world.
LABOURS SOLUTION – SWINGING CUTS IN ADULT SKILLS !
Lord Mandleson’s published plan is to cut £340 Million from the Further Education & Skills Budget in 2010/11 and further cuts of £135 million from Higher Education Budgets.
Cutting skills, the life blood of our economy, during a recession. LUNACY!
But don’t worry Mums, you will get a great sure start programme…
Come on Tory Party start acting like a party that will be good for the Country…Not one that is seeking every vote.
Comment by Louise Jolson on March 18, 2010 at 10:10 am
Well if it’s true about Ed Balls putting out email messages re conservatives removing sure start from modest income families, you need to vigourously take him to task about it and not let him get away with scare-mongering.
I hate the way labour seem to get away with their dirty tactics of lying and scare-mongering when conservatives are actually doing so much good for people.
Labour need to be challenged more in the media so people can see how they make things up if they can’t genuinely beat the conservatives in something. Expose their lies for goodness sake so they won’t be so keen to lie in the future and so that the public aren’t deceived by them.
Comment by Gaile Griffin Peers on March 18, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Excellent article by Maria Miller and very valid points from John Laity – but we all know that the party has a strong social conscience and we also know that this has always been one of the Conservative partiy’s innate strengths…
The snag is that Ed Ball’s message is “out there” and our comments are “in here” – so who is emailling, contacting or making clear to Ed Ball’s now fearful targets that their fears are ungrounded… because if they are gullible enough to believe Ed Ball’s pre-election rhetoric… they aren’t going to be looking here to see if it is true or not ?
I can’t see the press being that interested in picking this up – Ed Balls being wrong isn’t news any more – nor is Labour using every scurrlous method possible to distract from their threadbare policies and appalling accounting.
Despite the damage they will do to the country if they push their lies and us into a hung parliament, they are so desparate to cling to power, they will carry on scaremongering until the last vote is in… …so is there anyone out there in a position to write an apolitical summary of Labour’s elctioneering tactics so far? I doubt it… because however well intentiond such a denoument might be and however unbiased it might try to be… it will always sound like a childish chant of “its not fair”… …so are we reduced to the same tactics…? Should we be emailling everyone about how they don’t need to worry about getting people to vote any more because the way Labour’s education policy is working out, if they stay in power… then after another four years all our children will be putting Xs on everything as they won’t even be able to spell their own names anymore….
Comment by Ian Bruce on March 18, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Labour’s claims are misleading. Children’s Centres were being rolled out by the last Conservative Government and were targetted where there was insufficient or inappropriate nursey care. Not only did many existing Childrens Centres close through lack of Government funding thousands of privately and charity run nurseries also closed. Roll on a better targetting and how about producing an audit of the number of nursery places destroyed by Labour?
Comment by robbie on March 25, 2010 at 9:33 pm
if we are going to win this election ,and i am so worried that we will , we then do everything that needs to be done to put this country on its feet again ,and all the angst that that requires . We then end up with an angry electorate that are shortsighted , look back to the good old days of benefits and a mad system of child support . When I grew up my parents worked bloody hard to take care of us and didnt ask the government for a penny
Comment by Bernie on March 29, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Im not sure who to vote for with all the scaremongering in my local newspaper ! Sure Start is so much more than childcare – it has brought communities together and our children have had exactly what they need in this busy workd of working family life – a sure start – As a working mum of 3, sure start was my lifeline 9yrs ago when as a new mum I had post natal depression, I made friends, bonded with my baby and learned new skills that set me on a new career path. I have maintained contact as a mum, volunteer and self employed baby massage instructor with my local sure start, the parent volunteers are totally commited to working towards better communities for our kids to grow up in …….we have worked really hard in our sure starts…………please dont let that end !!!!!
Comment by Naomi on March 31, 2010 at 4:13 pm
I am a Children’s Centre health visitor in a Sure Start Centre, so sorry to disappoint you but it’s not a new idea. I’m interested to know where you plan to get the extra 4000 HVs from, given that we cannot fill our vacancies as there aren’t enough health visitors out there to employ and funding to train them has been cut. It costs approximately £40, 000 to put each HV through their 12 month specialist training, not to mention the minimum 6 years it takes before you are able to apply. All parties make no bones about the fact there will be cuts to public funding so I find it hard to see how you will fund something as expensive as training 4000 more specialist health visitors on top of the ones that are already desperately needed to deliver the current Healthy Child Programme and be part of the child protection process.
Comment by Sam Walker on April 20, 2010 at 6:46 pm
I’m a Children’s Centre Worker and I have to agree with Naomi. My local area has a laughable shortage of health visitors. However what I must ask is, are all these apparent new health visitors going to run play and stay sessions? deliver parenting programs? do outreach work? make home safety scheme assessments? staff contact sessions? arrange fun days? work evenings and weekends? signpost to adult education courses? chase up any benefit and housing issues? and facilitate groups?
all on top of the usual health Visitor job role?
I accept that there is a dire need for more health visitors but are they the conservatives only answer to Sure Start?
I feel that I am being pressured by my Sure Start Managers to vote Labour (and trust me, I’m not happy about it) in order to keep my job. It appears that although the Conservatives are vowing to keep Sure Start going, the only answer is more Health Visitors.
What I really want to know is if my job as a Children’s Centre Worker is safe or are all the Sure Start jobs going to go to these theoretical Health Visitors?
Comment by Jane Smyth on April 22, 2010 at 7:25 pm
I am a children centre manager and have been quite concerned by the desperate measures labour are taking to get votes by targeting vulnerable families for whom children centres have been a lifesaver.On the other hand as there is already a shortage of health visitors it is good quality well paid family support workers and centre managers that is needed to reach those families who find our services hard to reach.I challenge David Cameron to talk to children centres and read their Self Evaluation forms and then he will be able to see the what is needed is more of what is going on already.Good quality Family support workers will be more cost effective than health visitors in centres as we work in close partnership with them already.Labour have done this scaremongering very cleverly and families do believe it.
Comment by Nicola Martin on May 1, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I work in Children’s Centres in the South of England, supporting HV’s. In the last three years I have seen Children’s Centre staff, funded by the Local Authority rise in numbers year on year whilst the HV’s (funded by the NHS) have been cut dramatically. We share the working environment but not the financial support. Sam’s comment about whether HV’s will deliver her list of services is misleading. Do we, as the public who are funding these centres want to spend our money on delivering ‘stay and play’ sessions staffed by highly qualified Health Professionals whilst children who are at risk of abuse have the minimal ‘safe’ input from the HV service because every time a member of staff dares to retire of move into another less demanding, more supported area of Health and are not replaced. Morale in the HV service has never been lower, their professionalism is being undermined by well meaning but ill equipt local authority and charity funded staff and the ‘hard to reach families’ don’t walk into the centres to attend ‘baby massage’ sessions. They are sought out and supported by highly trained and experienced HV’s. And when a family needs Child Protection intervention the Outreach Workers are withdrawn. Speaks volumes. Please keep your word and support the funding for those 4000 more HV’s. The public have no idea how vital a job they do.
Comment by Robert Williams on May 5, 2010 at 1:41 pm
My partner is an Outreach Worker at a Sure Start Childrens Centre, and they are most definately NOT withdrawn from Child Protection cases. In fact, she and her colleagues are becoming more involved in these cases, as Health Visitors alone cannot deal with all the cases being brought forward, and a large number of the cases are actually brought forward by outreach workers after visiting family homes and promoting central services. The previous comment is therefore misleading; yes we need more HV’s, but we should not replace Outreach Workers, Family Support Workers and other Sure Start centre staff, the extra HV’s must be IN ADDITION to current staffing levels.
The general public probably don’t realise how important HV’s are, but I doubt they equally know how important a role Outreach Workers play either?
Comment by Helen Monaghan on May 12, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I would like to know why, just because the poorer families choose not to access this amazing service should the parents who work hard & go to work will now have this opportunity taken away from them. I am a Staff Nurse in the NHS & have just returned to work after 6 months of maternity leave, the Surestart centre in Skelmersdale was a fantastic resource for me even though both myself & my partner work for a living. Despite the fact we are a two income household, we would not have been able to afford to pay privately for some of the courses myself & our baby girl attended through surestart, such as baby massage & tummy time.I feel terribly sad that any future children we have may not have the same opportunities just because I choose to work hard for what I have & not just sit at home & wait for handouts!