Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Monday, 1 March 2010.

Sure Start

Question: In view of the announcements today about secondary school choices, can the Minister say what percentage of toddlers got their first choice of Sure Start centre? Does she agree that parents vote with their feet when it comes to evaluating Sure Start centres and that the best centres are very oversubscribed by the middle classes? What are the Government doing to ensure that the most vulnerable people get those places?

Answer: My Lords, my view is that 100 per cent of parents have been able to achieve their choice of Sure Start centre in their community with this Government’s vision because we are committed to ensuring that there is a Sure Start children’s centre in every community. That is a commitment to a universal service, which was achieved when we created a statutory footing for Sure Start centres in the ASCL Bill. We must ensure that we really drive through our commitment to Sure Start centres by ensuring that there is outreach to disadvantaged communities; we learnt at the start that many of the Sure Start centres in the disadvantaged communities were very conscious of excluding parents who were on their borders. That is not necessary. We also know that Sure Start centres in more advantaged areas are used by children from disadvantaged areas, and that is why it is so important that we have a universal service.

Secondary information