I’ve launched a call for the Government to rebuild vital family and community services across Lancaster & Wyre, after years of tory cuts that left too many families without the support they need.
Sure Start centres were a proud achievement of the last Labour government. They transformed support for families, offering accessible childcare, health services, and community networks. We know they worked, children who grew up near a Sure Start centre were more likely to achieve strong GCSE results later on.
But after years of Conservative cuts, we’ve been left with a patchwork system where too many families in Lancashire can’t access local children’s centres or Family Hubs. Nationally, one in four families with children under five miss out on this support, rising to one in three among lower-income families. That’s simply not good enough.
The Conservatives took a scythe to family services in Lancaster & Wyre. When it comes to education, they and Reform only seem interested in cutting state school budgets to restore private schools’ tax breaks.
That’s why I’m calling on the Labour government to rebuild these services. We did it before with Sure Start, and I know we can do it again.
Every family, no matter where they live, deserves access to the support they need to give their children the best start in life. I’ll keep pushing to make sure that happens here in Lancaster & Wyre.
You can read my letter to Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education below:
