Policy and Politics
New children's minister Sarah Teather pays a visit to centre
New children's minister Sarah Teather made her first visit in the role when she dropped in at Shadwell Children's Centre in east London last Thursday.
Sarah Teather meets children and families at Shadwell Children's Centre
The Liberal Democrat MP's portfolio has yet to be officially confirmed by the Department for Education, but Nursery World has learned that she will be responsible for early years, nursery education and child poverty.
Following the visit, Ms Teather said, 'In my second week as children's minister I was keen to get out and visit a Sure Start children's centre and see for myself the fantastic work being done to support families with young children. I was really impressed by Shadwell Children's Centre in Tower Hamlets, where the staff are working hand in hand with the local community to provide family support, health and childcare services for the most needy families in their area.'
She added, 'Children's centres provide a variety of vital services that all young children and their families can benefit from. But it's important that we redouble our efforts to ensure these services reach out to the families who need them most.
'In many areas, health visitors are playing a key role in helping to establish trusted relationships with the most needy families. We want to make sure this is happening across the board, and will be providing more health visitors in the local community to help this happen.'
Last week it was revealed that funding for Sure Start is to be protected, at least until 2011, but that outreach services would be cut back to fund 4,200 health visitors, with the aim of targeting services at the poorest families (News, 27 May).
