Nursery World - Clarke replies to Sure Start issues

The Government is committed to delivering and expanding its Sure Start programme in England in the long term, says education secretary Charles Clarke. He told delegates at a conference in London, 'Our investment in good-quality early education, childcare and family support is the most important investment we can make for the future. We know the difference it can make to children's lives. Children in good-quality early years settings learn and behave better when they go on to school.'

He told delegates at a conference in London, 'Our investment in good-quality early education, childcare and family support is the most important investment we can make for the future. We know the difference it can make to children's lives. Children in good-quality early years settings learn and behave better when they go on to school.'

At the end of the current spending review, the budget for programmes under the Sure Start umbrella will rise to 1.5bn a year for 2005 and 2006.

More than 700 delegates at the Sure Start national conference in London on 10 December were given the chance to put questions to the education secretary, with panel members Chris Pond, undersecretary of state in the Department for Work and Pensions, and Dr Stephen Ladyman, undersecretary of state in the Department of Health, during a session chaired by Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee.

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