Oral Answers to Questions

Andrea Leadsom Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady must wait for the integrated rail plan, but the north-east will be the beneficiary of the biggest investment in our rail infrastructure beyond HS2 that we have seen for a century. We will be putting in about £96 billion more, and we want the local and regional authorities to work with us to ensure that we promote the projects that the people really want.

[Dame Andrea Leadsom (South Northampton- shire) (Con)]

Q11. I want to really thank my right hon. Friend for his support for the early years healthy development review and, in particular, for the half a billion pounds of new money at the spending review last week. He often says that talent is spread equally across our country, but opportunity is not, so does he agree that giving every baby the best start in life is the best possible way to level up across our country?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I have listened to my right hon. Friend over many years on this issue and she is 100% right in what she says about the importance of early years. That is why we are investing £500 million to support families and children, including £82 million to create a network of family hubs to bring together services for children of all ages. We are going to continue to invest in children’s early years—for example, the offer of 15 hours of early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds that has already benefited 1.1 million disadvantaged kids since 2013.