Tories round on Sure Start

Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:00 AM

The Conservatives have called for a report showing the government's flagship Sure Start scheme is largely ineffective to be published in full.

Shadow secretary for the family Theresa May said she was unsurprised that the report, leaked to The Guardian, showed the scheme had brought no overall improvements.

According to the newspaper, research by academics at Birkbeck College in London finds the £3 billion programme aimed at helping deprived pre-school children and their families was successful in some areas.

But it reveals that as a whole, the scheme - which is intended to offer joined-up childcare, parenting classes and health advice among other things - failed to boost youngsters' development, language and behaviour.

There are currently 524 Sure Start schemes in Britain, but the Labour party manifesto for the general election pledged radically expand this by the end of the decade.

"By 2010, we will create 3,500 Sure Start Children's Centres for children under five years - five in every constituency - a universal local service that brings together childcare and services for families," it said.

Today's evaluation notes that current failures do not mean the scheme will fail to help children in deprived areas in the long term, but Ms May insisted it was a vindication of previous Tory criticism.

"At the last election, Conservatives warned that Sure Start was too bureaucratic and proposed encouraging more providers from the voluntary sector to run childcare and family support centres in their area," Ms May said today.

"Efforts must be made to ensure that children grow up in good health and in houses where adults are working, but it's obvious that Sure Start is not delivering the benefits which it intended.

"This scheme costs taxpayers millions of pounds and the government needs to look at it very carefully. The full findings of the report must be published as a matter of urgency."

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