Latest news with #SureStart
The Sun
a day ago
- General
- The Sun
Five freebies and discounts parents on Universal Credit can get worth up to £3,286
PARENTS on Universal Credit could be entitled to freebies and deals worth over £3,000. With childcare costs on the rise, looking after growing tots can be challenging. 1 But for struggling families there may be some extra cash and perks they can get their hands on - some of which they may never had heard of. Here is what is available... PREGNANCY GRANT - £500 New parents can claim this one-off grant within 11 weeks of the baby's due date or up to six months after the baby is born. It's a payment worth £500 to help with the cost of having a child. Parents will need to print out and fill in the Sure Start Maternity Grant (SF100) claim form and have it signed by a doctor or midwife. You could qualify for the Sure Start Maternity grant if you're claiming benefits and expecting your first child. You can also qualify if you have children already and are expecting twins or triplets. HEALTHY START - £442 Healthy Start scheme. Anyone more than 10 weeks pregnant or with a child under four years old and on benefits can apply online or via email. The scheme issues parents with a card they can use in supermarkets, which gives them free access to milk, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables and tinned pulses. Disability benefit explained - what you can claim The full list of benefits qualifying you for the scheme is: Income Support Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance Income-related Employment and Support Allowance Child Tax Credit with a family income of £16,190 or less per year Pension Credit Universal Credit with no earned income or total earned income of £408 or less per month for the family Parents can also apply for the scheme if you are under 18 and not on any benefits. You can find out more about the scheme in our full guide. FREE CHILDCARE - £1,739 Parents on Universal Credit may also be entitled to help with childcare costs. You'll need to be working - and your partner if you live with them - or have a job offer. But it doesn't matter how many hours you or your partner work. You can get 85 per cent of your expenses paid each month up to a maximum of £1,014 for one child or £1,739 for two or more kids. FREE SCHOOL MEALS - £500 Children whose parents receive income support such as Universal Credit, Job seeker's Allowance and Child Tax Credits can receive free school meals. How you apply depends on your personal circumstances - some people may be able to via their local council, while others might have to speak to their children's school directly. Type your postcode into the Government's website to see who to contact and how to apply at The exact amount you'll get depends on where you live, but the help is worth around £460 on average per child per year, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. If you're eligible for free school meals, you may also get similar help during school holidays including Christmas and Easter, as well as half terms. If your child is eligible for free school meals, they'll also qualify for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme offering kids free activities to take part in outside of school.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Leeds children's centres reviewed as council seeks savings
Families are to be consulted on a shake-up of children's centres which could see services run with fewer buildings and City Council said it could save £2.45m after launching a review of the future of 56 centres, with a consultation expected to be confirmed include a workforce reorganisation, more sharing of buildings and some services being offered job cuts or centre closures have been announced, but a council report said it was "inevitable that there could be fewer overall posts on the revised structure". Children's centres in Leeds were established in the early 2000s as part of the national Sure Start initiative to support young children and their centres aimed to provide a range of services including early education, childcare, health services and family support, particularly targeting disadvantaged areas, to promote better outcomes for children under five. A report to senior councillors said Leeds had more children's centres than any other said: "Leeds remains an outlier with 56 children's centres, compared to Liverpool with 23 and Birmingham with 22."A decline in birth rates means fewer families are expected to use the services in report also highlighted national data which "indicates that by 2017, 16 local authorities had closed 50% or more of their centres, accounting for 55% of the total closures nationally".It said the number of centres had been "steadily declining ever since". 'Absolutely critical role' Last month a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said Sure Start centres had a "remarkably long-lasting" positive impact on the health and education outcomes of children who had access to a centre in their early said they "benefitted a range of groups, but particularly children from disadvantaged areas, the health outcomes of boys in adolescence, and both the educational and behavioural outcomes of children from non-white ethnic backgrounds".Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: "This research reinforces what those of us in the early years have long known: that children's centres play an absolutely critical role in improving children's life chances, especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds." Currently in Leeds, 40 centres are run by the council and 16 are operated under agreements with of the 56 centres are divided into 18 "delivery groups", each with a single team of staff covering three or four the new proposals that would be reorganised into seven groups, each covering a wider geographical centre staff currently employed by schools and academies would be transferred to council contracts which would allow "all employees to form part of the review."Formal proposals for the centres are expected to be presented to senior councillors in the autumn. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dozens of MPs back campaign to revive playgrounds
More than 70 MPs are backing a campaign to revive England's playgrounds as pressure grows on the government to do more to tackle community decline to fight Reform UK. Labour MP Tom Hayes has tabled an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that would ensure playgrounds lost to development are replaced. Politics Live: Mr Hayes told Sky News it is a personal subject as he grew up in poverty, caring for two disabled parents, and without his local playground "they wouldn't have been able to afford any sort of leisure activity for me". "Talking to parents these days, with the cost of living crisis going on, they just don't have play areas on their doorstep like they used to. What they have instead is rusting swings or boarded-up playgrounds." The Bournemouth East MP said this speaks to a "wider hopelessness" that people are feeling about "littering in their streets, graffiti on their walls, potholes in their roads". "It just makes people feel like nobody really cares about their area. That's at a time when people are feeling hopeless about the possibility of change and Reform, obviously, are trying to capitalise on that." Under the last Labour government, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham launched England's first and only play strategy, which aimed to create 3,500 new play spaces across every local authority - backed by £235m of funding. It was abandoned by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition two years later and facilities have been in sharp decline since then, according to Play England which has developed the amendment Mr Hayes is tabling. The amendment would require councils in England to assess play provision and integrate "play sufficiency" into local plans and planning decisions - similar to a law that already exists in Scotland and Wales. It would also require developers to deliver and fund adequate play infrastructure, with a focus on inclusive play equipment for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Mr Hayes said this would not cost the Treasury anything and "is such a simple thing" the government can do quickly for children and young people "who have been shafted for so long". It is backed by 71 MPs from across Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Greens, with many supporters hopeful it could also reduce screen time Pressure on government over left-behind areas Amendments by backbench MPs are not usually agreed to but can be used to put pressure on the government, with the issue to be debated in the House of Commons this week as the planning bills enter the report stage. Mr Hayes said his playground campaign was just the start as he backed the resurrection of Sure Start centres, following calls from Rother Valley MP Jake Richards last week. Read More: There is growing momentum among Labour backbenchers who want to see the government give more of a priority to social infrastructure to deliver tangible change to communities and fend off the threat of Reform UK. MPs and policy insiders have told Sky News they are concerned Downing Street's ambition to grow GDP with long-term transport and infrastructure projects will not make a difference in places that look and feel forgotten, even if achieved. As Sky News has previously reported, several Red Wall MPs have , which has identified 613 "mission-critical" neighbourhoods in need of a cash boost to ensure people in left-behind areas can benefit from growth. The commission, chaired by Labour peer Hilary Armstrong, highlights the need to regenerate neighbourhoods with facilities like libraries, parks and community centres for voters to feel a difference. Any money for such a project will be set out in Chancellor Rachel Reeves's , when she will allocate funds for each department over the coming years. One of ICON's supporters is Blackpool South MP Chris Webb, who has also signed Mr Hayes's amendment. He told Sky News playgrounds "will make a real difference to families in Blackpool, which has the most mission-critical neighbourhoods in the country". "I'm committed to fighting for policies that benefit our community, and I'm thrilled to be working with Tom Hayes MP, the play sector and Play England to make this vision a reality." Sky News has contacted the government for comment.
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on regenerating neighbourhoods: levelling up was a good idea, Labour should reclaim it
A boost to Sure Start-type investment in local children's services is expected to feature in next week's spending review – even while a more comprehensive child poverty plan has been put off until the autumn. Solid evidence, as well as a mountain of anecdotes, support the reputation of New Labour's flagship early years policy. But Sure Start was not New Labour's only way of targeting communities based on need. The channelling of about £2bn to 39 of the most deprived neighbourhoods in England under the New Deal for Communities was another key strand of the Blair and Brown governments' anti-poverty programme. Unfortunately, the idea behind this – that ministers should tackle 'left-behind' communities with dedicated funding – was discredited by its association with levelling up. So central was this brand to Boris Johnson's post-Brexit premiership that a government department was renamed after it. But his promises mostly weren't kept, and the title was dropped last year. Since then, it is fair to say that geographical inequalities have taken a back seat to priorities including health and housing. Champions of locally led renewal have now regrouped. The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods has not yet come up with a catchphrase to replace levelling up. But Reform UK's 648 new council seats have injected an increased sense of urgency into discussions about the places and voters that are proving most receptive to Nigel Farage's populist, anti-migrant message. Later this month, the commission will publish new research on how English neighbourhoods have fared in recent decades. Hopes have risen that the spending review will see more resources directed towards those that the commission calls 'mission‑critical' due to their high position on a tailor-made index of deprivation. Such funding is, of course, not a panacea. Because community development initiatives are more diffuse – typically seeking to improve health, education and employment outcomes, and reduce crime – they are harder to describe and measure than a project like Sure Start. But Labour's New Deal brought significant improvements, much of which were then reversed by a decade of austerity. Today, about 1 million people in England live in neighbourhoods – many of them in coastal or ex-industrial towns – where the commission believes targeted investment could help arrest a further slide into decline. Micromanagement from Whitehall was part of the reason for levelling up's failure. This is a mistake Labour must not repeat. Regeneration is best done with communities – not to them. It is simply not possible to direct granular neighbourhood improvements from London. If new funding is announced, local authorities and mayors must be empowered to oversee how it is spent without the hurdles of overly complex bidding systems. If that means a role for Reform UK councillors, as well as local Labour MPs, then so be it. The alternative is the corrosive favouritism of pork-barrel politics. Different approaches attract different champions. As Gordon Brown pointed out last week, removing the two-child limit would have a far more dramatic effect on family finances than any number of local family hubs (currently the closest thing to Sure Start). The impact of place-based spending must be considered alongside other investment. But while allocating budgets to struggling neighbourhoods does not sweep their problems away, it does have advantages. Labour should bury the disappointments of levelling up and reclaim the initiative.
The Guardian
01-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Momentum to revive Sure Start is long overdue – it's been a lifeline for my son and me
Child health clinics, breastfeeding support, groups for new parents, sleep and weaning workshops, speech and language therapy, drop-in physio sessions, parenting courses in child development and mental health, stay and play sessions (including specifically for dads and male carers), music therapy classes, support groups for women and children who have suffered domestic violence, a housing clinic, groups for children with Send and cookery courses. These are just some of the services available to parents in the borough where I live: Islington, in north London. They exist under the banner of Bright Start, a clever – and I suspect slightly sneaky – rebranding of Sure Start. Sure Start was the Blair government's leading early years policy, offering area-based holistic support to families with children under five in England (it was Flying Start in Wales and Best Start in Scotland). But since 2010, as a direct result of Tory austerity, 1,416 Sure Start centres in England have closed. Now that the child poverty taskforce is to recommend to the Labour government a return of the scheme, I thought that it was worth examining what it's like to live in an area that kept it. I didn't realise that Islington had retained Sure Start until I took my baby to be weighed at the local children's centre after the necessity for home visits ceased. There it was, next to the reception desk: a sign reading 'Sure Start', evidence of what had once been a dedicated service for families not just here, but throughout England. Children's centres offered all kinds of services like the ones listed above, and they also provided childcare to working parents, those in need and those entitled to the free government hours. In Islington, they still do. Of the three closest to where I live, two are rated 'outstanding' and one is 'good'. Childcare is in high demand in Islington, and childcare places aren't allocated on the basis of a waiting list but on a complex calculation based on proximity, the age balance of the existing children in the room and staffing ratios. Priority childcare places exist for those who need them most: looked-after children, children whose families are homeless, children whose parents suffer from mental health problems, children with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Health visitors and other professionals can refer these children to a panel for consideration. It's one way in which the Bright Start services fulfil their remit of helping the most vulnerable families in the borough, an ethos that underpinned the very reason for Sure Start's existence. I owe so much of my experience of early parenthood to Bright Start. As someone whose family does not live close, feeling part of a community has been vital to my wellbeing and to my son's. Like many others, we do not own our flat and we live in an area where we are increasingly surrounded by millionaires (Islington has lots of very rich people in it, but also shocking levels of child poverty). That feeling of community becomes even more important in such a divided borough. Just knowing that there are people there who can help when things get tough means so much. In the three years since I had my son, we have accessed various forms of support, from health visitor advice to sleep and weaning workshops, not to mention some of the best therapy I have ever had. I highlight these things not to boast, but because it's important to emphasise the postcode lottery of parenthood that exists in the UK. Were I a parent living in a borough without these services, I expect I would feel angry reading about the support that exists elsewhere, because everyone should have access to them. Many local authorities do their best and charities try to plug the gaps, but there is no replacement for fully integrated early years services. The Institute for Fiscal Studies recently found that the positive impacts of Sure Start were widespread and 'remarkably long-lasting', producing better health, education and social care outcomes for families who enrolled in the programme. It may sound obvious, but when services are integrated, they communicate better with one another. Referral pathways are more straightforward; professionals understand the systems they are working in and are able to signpost other services that might help specific children and their families, such as benefits and housing advice. If a child has a nursery place and needs an education, health and care plan for when they start school, the parents do not have to apply for this themselves. Supporting and safeguarding those who are vulnerable is less challenging because, with a proper safety net around them, people are less likely to drop off the map, or to feel that no one is looking out for them. Seeing how these services operate first-hand and benefiting from some of them has been, quite simply, amazing. That's not to say the system is perfect: there are funding pressures and high demand, and gaps in services (to cite one example, Bright Start speech therapists don't work with neurodivergent children, who are on a different pathway. As a result those children, who arguably need it most, don't get any one-to-one speech therapy). Nevertheless, it should be a blueprint for Labour, which should reinstate the scheme throughout England. Certainly, it will be a challenge. Concerns raised by a government source include fragmentation of services and cost as barriers to reinstating Sure Start. Neither is a convincing argument. Reintegrating fragmented services may be a challenge, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth doing, and the payoff is worth it. IFS analysis has found that Sure Start children's centres in England generated £2 of financial benefits for every £1 spent. We know that supporting the youngest in society from the outset means less pain, less social exclusion and less cost later on. More than that, it is simply the right thing to do. Senior Labour figures should visit one of Islington's children's centres and see for themselves how wonderful they are. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist
