In my view: Unsure analysis of Sure Start

Ministers need not panic. Supporters of Labour's flagship programme for deprived under-fives just need to take a deep breath. A Government-funded study has failed to find improvement so far in Sure Start children relative to other deprived children. But though the programme has been dealt a blow, experts agree the problem lies in the hard-to-measure design of Sure Start and in Government pressure for early results. How can you prove a miracle effect on the hardest-to-change children when the first Sure Starts had been open only 18 months? Researchers compared 19,000 under-fives, half in Sure Start areas, the rest from...