Sure Start is not safe with the Tories!

READING & DISTRICT LABOUR PARTY MEDIA RELEASE
14 March 2010
A Mothers Day Warning from Labour:

“Sure Start isn’t safe with the Tories”

The thirteen Sure Start children’s centres across Reading - which offer childcare opportunities for children 0-5, play activities, parenting classes, family learning and first aid training, advice on benefits, work and training, and easy access to health services– are at serious risk of closure if the Tories come to power locally or nationally, Labour leaders warn in a Mothers Day statement today.

Lead Councillor for Children’s Services John Ennis says: “Tory Education lead Mark Ralph gave the game away last week when he threatened ‘rigorous evaluation and cost-benefit analysis’ of the centres. How do you put a money figure on a more skilled family and a thriving child? These centres are hugely valued by the parents that use them, but they look like an early target for the ‘cuts across the board’ that the Tories are demanding.”

Labour candidate for Reading West Naz Sarkar adds: “Unlike the Tories, I don’t say or think Britain is broken, but I do believe Sure Start is one of the things that stops it breaking. Helping families to operate better must be at the very bedrock of a good society. But for the Tories, locally and nationally, Sure Start as a soft target – it doesn’t cater for their kind of people, they don’t understand it, and from David Cameron down they’ve shown themselves ready and willing to divert Sure Start funding into their own pet schemes.”

Anneliese Dodds (Reading East) adds: “This Mother’s Day people should think about how much Sure Start has meant to mothers in Reading and across the country, and pledge to vote to save it, not cut it. It’s one of the big choices at this election”