MP's Sure Start plea for Hull kids

Diana Johnson MP today appealed for vital services for Hull's young children and their parents to be protected after David Cameron's broke his promise on funding Children's Centres.

The call came today (21 February) as she attended the latest official opening, by the Lord Mayor of Hull, of a Sure Start Children's Centre in Hull, at Bricknell Primary School in Hull North.

This Thursday (24 February), Hull City Council will vote on Lib Dem plans for a £4m cut in the children's services budget funding Hulls 20 Children's Centres, from £7.7m to £3.7m.

The Hull North MP is appealing to Hull councillors to do all they can to guarantee that Children's Centres and other services will not face the axe due to a cut in Council funding for early years services.

Despite the promise from David Cameron before the election and from Chancellor George Osborne after the election, Sure Start is facing cuts across the country.

Chancellor Osborne claimed that the dedicated grant for Sure Start would be frozen for the next few years. However, the new Early Intervention Grant that replaces it has been cut by £1.4bn up to April 2013. The Chancellor also removed the ring fence that prevented councils from using the money on other projects.

Despite the Government cuts to local authorities, the Lib Dem Children's Minister Sarah Teather recently claimed that "we have ensured there is enough money in the system to maintain the network of Sure Start Children's Centres".

According to Diana Johnson MP large cuts to Hull's main funding from Whitehall could mean that councillors are tempted to dip into the pot to plug gaps in other areas.

The MP is also pressing Guildhall chiefs to protect facilities provided by Children's Centres, after the Government announced its intention to scrap key obligations for Children's Centres in poorer areas, such as guaranteeing that good quality childcare is available during working hours.

Speaking after the opening of Bricknell Children's Centre, Diana Johnson MP said: "Like tripling tuition fees and axing the Educational Maintenance Allowance, cutting Sure Start is another pre-election pledge being broken by the Coalition a pledge made in full knowledge of the deficit.

"Before the election David Cameron accused Labour of scaremongering when we pointed out that his plans would damage Sure Start. Now the Tory-led Government is asking councils to do their dirty work for them by slashing funding to councils such as Hull and moving money to richer areas of the country.

"Of course all services need to improve efficiency, but cuts which go too far and too fast could mean a much poorer services for children and families in Hull, and maybe even the loss of some Sure Start Centres. This will make it harder for the next generation to get on in life, especially in the least wealthy areas.

"Children's Centres provide real help to thousands of children and parents across Hull, and it would be a real tragedy if some of them were forced to close, or have their services reduced too severely, just when they had begun to pay real dividends.

"That is why I am concerned by the level of cuts to Sure Start being proposed by Hull's Lib Dem Council. I hope that the local authority will do everything possible to keep Hull's Children's Centres open and maintain the services that they provide.

"Protecting key Hull services such as Children's Centres and day centres must have a higher priority than £200,000 for the Freedom Festival or publishing 'Hull in Print' every month."

Diana Johnson is backed by Shadow Children and Families Minister, Sharon Hodgson MP, who added: "Sure Start is one of the biggest success stories of the last decade we now have a network of more than 3,500 centres across the country, providing support to 2.7million children and their families. They have a big impact on those children and families, so it is devastating that the Government now sees them as an easy target for cuts."

"This is the latest in a long line of broken promises from both sides of the Coalition. They say they want councils to keep Centres open, but by cutting funding across the board they are making it very difficult for them to do so.

"They are trying to pass the blame for closing Centres or reducing services from Whitehall to the town hall, so while I hope that local parents will get behind Diana and press Hull City Council to do what they can to protect and maintain services, they should be in no doubt that it is the Tory-led government who are really behind any cuts or closures."

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