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Cameron's Pledge for SureStop
Posted by Tracey Cheetham (@tchee)
Friday, 22nd January 2010
Today, Matthew Woods, AKA @cleethorpesrock, someone with whom I have discussed and debated often, made this comment on Twitter:
It irked me immediately. On first examination, this seemed an ill-thought out comment from someone who hasn't really considered the impact that abolishing SureStart would have. SureStart provides more than just childcare. When I challenged this opinion, Matthew said that he believes that SureStart should only benefit the poor and not everyone, including those on £50k per year. I'm sympathetic to this but doubt that many £50k per year families are using the vast array of support services that SureStart offers to families in need. I must be fair to Matthew, who engages in the spirit of friendly, open-minded discussion and is a pleasure to cross-swords with; when I said this to him, he did say that he would investigate further and may reconsider. Still, it got me thinking - how many people think that SureStart is purely about childcare when in reality, it is so much more?
SureStart was launched by this Labour Government as part of the Every Child Matters strategy. It has been a key element in getting 600,000 children out of poverty, a worthy achievement. As Labour Matters says David Cameron's Tories are just not family friendly. Cutting back SureStart with the excuse that they are ensuring it is only targeted at the poorest in society, removes vital access to community health services, parenting and family support, outreach services, integrated early years education and access to training and employment opportunities for parents with children under five.
Local authorities are duty-bound by The Childcare Act 2006 to ensure that services for early-years are accessible and have maximum impact in benefitting families and children in their area. Consequently, in many places, SureStart has become an essential part of the community and has been praised by parents and professionals alike for being a catalyst in turning lives around, such as that of Karol Jacquin, a single-parent in Hounslow, who was directed towards her nearby SureStart centre by her Health Visitor in 2002. She credits this as being the turning point in her life.
To say that the Tories will cut £200Million from SureStart demonstrates the lack of regard David Cameron actually has for the family, for children and for the needs of real families. Robbing Peter to Pay Paul (Earl of Tory) and save him from that nasty Inheritance Tax bill is another example of how they may have fresh-faced posters and clever sound bites, but underneath it all, they are the same old Tories.
The fact is that the poor simply cannot trust Conservative policy and neither can families.
