Results 1-20 of 9,709 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Dawn Primarolo

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Amber Valley (Judy Mallaber), for High Peak (Tom Levitt) and for Copeland (Mr. Reed) for their contributions to this short debate, which reinforced points about the role of Sure Start centres in narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest achieving children, raising attainment, working with the work force to ensure its development and encouraging...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I would like to make a few more points, but I will certainly answer the points made by the hon. Lady. Issues such as these will always involve a struggle. People talk about hard to reach groups. That is not the sort of language that we should use because the challenge for the services is to ensure that they reach out to families. We are in the early stages of that. I agree with the hon....

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: No, I will not give way on that point, but I will give way in a moment. We must find the right balance to decide where the investment should go first. When it is not economic to have a full children's centre in a particular place, we must still reach out to the groups that need the services. I agree with the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole on healthy eating and the Change 4 Life...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I think we would all agree that we must be careful about the balance when we expand a service and ask more of it. Staff in Sure Start centres and schools are sometimes uncomfortable with the pressure we put on them to develop their services. There must be time for existing services to bed in. There will always be debate about whether the pace is fast enough, but this debate should be about...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: May I just finish answering all the hon. Lady's questions, as she was keen for me to do? If she then wants to add anything more, I am happy to respond. The hon. Lady asked me some specific questions on children's centres, and raised the absolutely valid but difficult issue about Sure Start children's centres and their involvement and ability to support families, particularly those under...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: No. Frequently, not only in the House but in local government debates, claims are made about wanting further investment, and speeches are made about why that is necessary, while suggestions are simultaneously made about cutting the very budgets that provide current services. That is the position—I will give the hon. Member for Basingstoke the last word on this—of the Conservative...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: No, it is helpful, really.

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. I do not know whether she has to hand the Conservative party policy document "Helping new families", but on page 3, where it talks about how to pay for the policy, it says that the cost of the policy is £200 million per year and that that will be funded from the children's centres budget, instead of funding outreach to isolated communities....

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: That is a yes.

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: On a point of order, Mrs. Dean. I know that the hon. Lady might have slightly different views from me, but she cannot put words into my mouth. For the record, the Government are investing very heavily in outreach work because they value it for the reasons that both hon. Ladies have given in their remarks.

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: Don't be so patronising. Come on!

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I am also familiar with the work by the New Economics Foundation that the hon. Lady mentions. In 1979, the Black report on how to eradicate health inequalities was published. It suggested a figure of £2 billion as the cost of implementation. Does the hon. Lady feel that there is a parallel? The then Conservative Government said that figure was impractical, unachievable and unaffordable,...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: Will the hon. Lady confirm that that comes at the cost of abolishing the child trust funds that are so important to families and help them to build up resources to support their children as they move into adulthood?

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her support. While commenting on outreach, will she dwell on the fact that it is the outreach work from Sure Start that the Conservatives have said that they would cut?

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: Good afternoon, Mrs. Dean. It is a pleasure to see you chairing the debate. I am grateful for the opportunity to talk about Sure Start and children's centres, which are among the Government's proudest achievements. It is difficult to overstate the value of their impact on the everyday lives of mums and dads from all walks of life around the country. Sure Start children's centres give them...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: The network of services that come together in a Sure Start children's centre directly address the reduction of child poverty. Let me give my hon. Friend a few examples before moving on in my speech. We know that children are most affected and influenced by what goes on in the family. If their parents are isolated and unable to get into the labour market, or do not have the skills to do so, a...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I congratulate my hon. Friend's constituents from the Hadfield Sure Start centre on their invitation to attend the community heroes reception tonight. I am sure that we all want to pay a huge compliment to all the staff who work in and around children's centres and to express our debt of gratitude for their dedication to the principles I have just outlined. Jobcentre Plus, the health service...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: I can assure my hon. Friend that we will do our utmost to ensure that all local authorities deliver on their children's centres by March 2010. Indeed, we are investing £1 billion a year by next year to ensure that that happens, and we are monitoring councils to ensure that it happens, that resources are ring-fenced and that the services that we require are delivered. There is something...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Dawn Primarolo: Indeed, I can. The shadow Secretary of State for Health announced that the Conservatives would pay for an increase in health visitor numbers by raiding Sure Start budgets to the tune of £200 million.