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LABOUR SMASHES TARGETS FOR CHILDREN Kent Labour welcomes the news that the Government has already gone beyond its target for 2,500 Sure Start Children's Centres to be open by the start of this month. 2,906 Sure Start Children’s Centres had been opened by the end of March, and more are opening soon. Clive Hart, joint Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, said: “Labour understands how important it is that children get a good start in life. Sure Start Children’s Centres offer children and families crucial support in those vital first five years. Ten years ago when Labour came to power, there were no Children’s Centres at all – now, there are over 2,900 nationwide. Labour plans to have 3,500 Sure Start Children’s Centres by 2010. That’s one to serve every community” Labour is going to keep on investing in Sure Start – but the Conservatives have already said they want to cut its funding by £200 million every year. Christine Angell, joint Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education, added: “The Conservatives say they’ll make their cuts by axing additional outreach workers to be recruited from this year. But Labour is spending an extra £79 million per year on outreach workers - not the £200 million the Tories are bandying around. Losing £200 million will mean a further £121 million of cuts to Sure Start each year, on top of the cuts to outreach workers. Those workers will be vital in making certain that Sure Start services are available to all families. Children are the future of our country. Anyone who cares about that future shouldn’t vote Conservative”. We need to make sure that the chance to get more of this support to deprived areas isn’t wasted by KCC’s Tory Leader and his Cabinet.
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