Written question asked by Candy Atherton (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 January 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 31 January 2005. It was answered by Baroness Hodge of Barking (Labour) on Monday, 31 January 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what recommendations she has made to local authorities regarding parental involvement in children's centres.

Answer: Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recommendations she has made to local authorities regarding parental involvement in children's centres. [210128] Margaret Hodge: One of the Sure Start principles is that parents and children have access to services that are tailored flexibly according to their needs and circumstances. We issued children's centre start up guidance to local authorities in February 2003. This said that children's centres must not only consult parents and carers, including fathers, on what services to offer, but must also actively involve them by setting up systems to get their feedback on services and having on-going arrangements to ensure parents have a voice. There must also be mechanisms in place to enable parents to self-refer to services. Children's centres should implement specific strategies to include fathers. Family support and health advice must be available at times suitable for working parents. There should also be opportunities for family learning to take place at the centre or in settings linked to the centre such as FE colleges.

Secondary information