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Health Visitors

May say what a privilege it is, Mr. Cook, to see you in the Chair again today? I spent the morning with you. I hope that hon. Members do not take that the wrong way, but you know exactly what I mean. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) not only on securing this Adjournment debate but on the leadership that he is providing in Nottingham. His passion and commitment are focused on ensuring that Nottingham can truly claim the title ““Early Intervention City””. That would be a first for the United Kingdom. More significantly, my hon. Friend is working to get us, at the national level, to reflect on what we really need to do to replace intergenerational deprivation with what I described when I had the skills portfolio as intergenerational advance. Frankly, nothing could be more important than that for a Labour Government. People ask what is our core priority—what do we most want to transform in our society? It would be the greatest legacy for this Government, for as long as we last—and I hope that we will last for a long time to come—if history were to say that the policies that we put in place had genuinely laid the foundations that would help to shatter a society that is still too divided, that still has too much disadvantage and in which far too many people are still denied the economic and social opportunities that hon. Members take for granted. May I say to my hon. Friend, in all authenticity, that he is doing a great service not only to his city? I believe that we should endorse the concept of the early intervention city, and that Nottingham should be the first such city in the United Kingdom. I hope that that will be seen as trailblazing the concept for other parts of this country. It also makes an interesting point about the role of politicians in a modern world. Sometimes we are sucked into believing that the only way to make a difference is to attend Committees, sit around tables, and give people titles—some of which may be ministerial. My hon. Friend has demonstrated the power that can be used by a constituency MP who is willing to step up to the mark, provide community leadership and make a difference in a transformational way. My hon. Friend knows, as all politicians do these days, that we will be judged by our actions, not our words, and by the outcomes as a consequence of those actions. The nurse family partnership is fascinating because it is almost a missing piece in the jigsaw. The Government’s record on early intervention post-1997 is extraordinary. It is even more extraordinary that this country was so far behind in early intervention by 1997. Frankly, that was a scandal and a disgrace. In terms of our long-term economic and social interests, people often forget that, as a society, we did not even have the infrastructure or the architecture to provide early intervention, which is the most powerful thing that we can do to break the cycle of intergenerational deprivation. The nurse family partnerships represent the missing piece of the jigsaw, but let us look at other elements. On maternity services, we are about to produce a significant plan that will demonstrate how we will make a reality of our commitment to choice for every parent all over the country. People forget that antenatal and post-natal maternity services are every bit as important those relating to the birth itself. We have developed Sure Start and will be providing children’s centres for every neighbourhood and community. However, what matters is what goes on in those children’s centres; simply having them will not make the transformational difference required. This Government introduced universal nursery provision. Other countries had taken that for granted for decades, but it was this Government who introduced that in this country. Another important piece of the jigsaw is the financial support for individuals and providers. That is needed massively to expand access to quality child care. Another missing piece of the jigsaw could be what my hon. Friend describes as social education in primary schools. That has begun in his constituency and I know that it is happening in other parts of the country. There is a case for looking at the potential to mainstream that in our education system. As a Health Minister, I am not sure I am supposed to say that so let us hope that no one is listening too closely at the Department for Education and Skills—or maybe we should hope that they are. On the question of the bid, the number of local authority primary care trust partnerships that have submitted bids for the pilots is reassuring and exciting. It is good news that the number of expressions of interest has been as high as it is. More than 40 per cent. of partnerships have submitted a bid. I agree with my hon. Friend’s point that the purpose of the pilot is not, in this case, to see whether it works—the evidence is overwhelming on that. The purpose of the pilot is to learn the lessons to enable us to mainstream the scheme as effectively as possible. Obviously, we are about to announce the successful bids and it would be inappropriate for me to go any further than that during this debate. The message from my hon. Friend, which has been delivered privately as well as publicly, is that, irrespective of whether this particular bid from Nottingham is successful, he intends to ensure that the programme is set up in Nottingham. The commitment that I make is that if he is able do that by pulling together the necessary commitment and resources within Nottingham, we will extend to him, and the relevant partners in that city, the maximum possible assistance to enable them to achieve their objectives. Depending on our satisfaction with the design of the programme in Nottingham, we may also—and it is only a ““may”” at this stage—be willing to extend the evaluation to the project that Nottingham may or may not design. However, we must not prejudge the outcome of the bidding process at this stage.