Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for International Development
Joe Powell
Main Page: Joe Powell (Labour - Kensington and Bayswater)Department Debates - View all Joe Powell's debates with the Department for International Development
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
Joe Powell Excerpts(1 day, 19 hours ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. To ensure that everyone gets in, could questions and answers be short?
Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)
The IFS found that Sure Start delivered benefits significantly greater than its cost, yet it was still slashed by the Tories, with well over 1,000 centres closing. It was one of the biggest acts of vandalism under austerity, stunting life chances for too many for a generation. Can the Secretary of State outline how she expects this investment to work in areas with very high levels of inequality, such as my constituency, where life expectancy at birth differs by 19 years between one community and another?
Bridget Phillipson
As my hon. Friend says, we know from research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that Sure Start generated widespread long-term benefits in education and health, even reducing school absence and identifying support for children with SEND much more quickly. We will build on the lessons of Sure Start as we roll out Best Start family hubs. My hon. Friend is right to mention the importance of tackling entrenched inequalities within communities as part of that and ensuring that all our children are set up to succeed.