Exclusive: The Minister's View - Look back on progress

This vision has been at the heart of our work over the past year and will continue to underpin everything we do. I want to look back on progress so far.

SUPPORTING FAMILIES

Supporting families to bring up happy, healthy children is one of the best ways we can help tackle social inequality, close the attainment gap and help children thrive.

That's why I was really pleased that one of the first actions I took as children's minister was to protect and extend the entitlement to 15 hours a week of free early education and childcare for three- and four-year-olds which by 2013 will be extended to the most disadvantaged two-year-olds.

This will help balance work and family life. We also want to help parents who may be struggling in their relationships. This is why we are providing £30m over four years for relationship support.

We fought hard to protect funding so that local authorities could maintain the network of Sure Start children's centres - open to all but with a greater focus on those most in need.

I'm also really pleased that through the Special Educational Needs Green Paper we have set out radical proposals to give parents more control and confidence in what has traditionally been a very adversarial system.

REFORMING THE SYSTEM

Support for families can only be improved if you, the professionals and organisations who work with families every day, are given the opportunity to shape the services families need.

That's why over the last year we have been establishing a new way of working with the sector, investing £60m in a voluntary sector programme. We have also established six strategic partners to benefit from their specialist expertise, including 4Children, Children England and Barnardos.

We need to invest in the workforce and make sure they have the best skills. That's why we have protected investment in graduate programmes in 2011-12, and the Children's Workforce Development Council is continuing to deliver both the Early Years Professional Status and the New Leaders in Early Years programmes. But even the most highly skilled workforce can't do their jobs properly if they are hampered by bureaucracy. That is why I welcomed Dame Clare Tickell's recommendations on the Early Years Foundation Stage to radically slim down the framework and make it more flexible.

HELPING THE DISADVANTAGED

We have a responsibility to give every child a fair start in life. In difficult economic times it is even more important that the Government provides help to the most disadvantaged families.

That is why we have introduced the pupil premium, worth £2.5bn by the end of the Parliament, so deprived children can get extra help at school. And our new child poverty strategy sets out a radical approach to tackling the intergenerational cycles of poverty that blight too many lives.

For families who have multiple problems, we have launched a national campaign to turn around their lives and help them into work.

And showing our commitment to children's rights, we have announced plans to end child detention for immigration purposes to make sure every family that comes into contact with the immigration system is treated with compassion and humanity.

LOOKING AHEAD

We will shortly be explaining how this Government intends to support families during the early years and what parents can expect from local services. We are working closely with the sector on this new policy statement, due in the summer, which will include our response to the Tickell, Allen and Field recommendations on early years.

You, as professionals, will be crucial to helping us deliver it. I hope our collaboration will continue our way of working - with you leading the way in helping us to achieve the outcomes for children and families we all want to see.