31st July- Jack Abbott on Labour's commitment to improving children's futures

The last Labour Government took half a million children out of poverty – tackling this scourge was its driving force.

Much of that can be attributed to Sure Start, one of the proudest achievements of that Labour Government.

Sure Start children’s centres transformed the lives of millions of children, reduced hospitalisations, boosted physical and mental health and improved exam results.

Children who lived within a short distance of a Sure Start centre for their first five years were 0.9 percentage points more likely to achieve five good GCSEs at grades age 16.

In 2010, the Suffolk Conservatives pledged that our county's 47 children's centres were safe with them.

By 2020, there were just 17 left open full-time after their brutal cuts. I led the campaign to fight against the closures and, although we saved some centres, like at Highfield in Ipswich, many children and families lost access to this vital service in their communities, a service which was often described as a lifeline.

Coupled with damaging reductions to the number of health visitors in our county - not to mention the crisis in Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and mental health support - it was a dark period for children and their families in Suffolk.

Under the Conservatives, the number of children in poverty rose by 700,000 nationally. With the loss of each centre, vulnerable young families were abandoned.

Now, in 2025, I am proud to be part of a Labour Government rolling out Best Start Family Hubs, inspired by and built on the legacy of Sure Start.

Opening in every local authority by April 2026, Best Start Family Hubs will act as a one stop shop for parents seeking a range of support, from registering your child’s birth and access to midwifery and maternity services, to difficulty breastfeeding, nutrition and health advice and SEND support.

Hubs will also offer interventions and courses which work for parents, such as stay and play groups which help parents connect or sessions which help manage children’s emotional needs and provide a single point of entry for support for vulnerable families, ensuring early help before issues escalate.

This will be supported by a new national Best Start digital service, bringing together the trusted advice and guidance all parents need in one place, and linking families to their local services.

By 2028, 1,000 new Best Start Family Hubs will be up and running across the country by 2028, including in Suffolk, relieving pressure on parents and making a life changing difference to half a million more children.

This forms a key plank of the Government’s new ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’ strategy, which will see the Government spend £1.5 billion over the next three years to revolutionise family services and early years education, expanding and strengthening family services, making early education and childcare more accessible and affordable, and improving the quality of early education and childcare.

This landmark policy will also strengthen partnerships between nurseries and schools to get children ready to enter reception, funding early learning interventions in English and maths, and raising the status and skills of early years educators by introducing a new professional register and creating clear paths for career progression.

The last Labour Government made a commitment to eliminating child poverty and made enormous strides in doing so.

Then, tragically, for 14 years – as we watched Sure Start centres close around the country alongside other cruel Conservative cuts - that legacy was decimated.

The last Labour Government took hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and transformed their outcomes. This Labour Government will do the same. We are building a new future for children in Ipswich and across Britain.