Reform UK\u2019s \u201cpro-family\u201d policies are a sham and exclude non-traditional families, the government\u2019s early years minister has said before the rollout of hundreds of new Sure Start-style family centres across England on Monday.<\/p>\n
Olivia Bailey said she wanted the hubs to be inclusive for all families and transform communities, after what she called the \u201ccriminal\u201d dismantling of Sure Start under the last Conservative government.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure Start is one of our proudest achievements as a Labour<\/a> party,\u201d she said. \u201cBest Start is central to what we\u2019re trying to do as a government. For the first time in a long time, even ever, this is a government that is really focusing on the early years and making sure that we give every child the best possible start in life.\u201d<\/p>\n Bailey, who adopted two children with her wife and is also an equalities minister, said she worried about the \u201cchilling\u201d effect a Reform government could have on gender equality and LGBTQ+ families. \u201cI do worry about Reform,\u201d she said. \u201cThey say that they\u2019re the party of the family, but that\u2019s a complete sham. They say they support families, but I don\u2019t think they support families like mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Bailey at the Harmood family hub. Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Bailey pointed to the appointment of James Orr<\/a>, a rightwing theologian who opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest or serious risk to health, and to remarks made by the Reform MP Danny Kruger, who has stated that the UK is \u201csuffering from having a totally unregulated sexual economy\u201d<\/a> and warned of the UK being led by an \u201cappalling Hamas-supporting, LGBT-supporting nationalist party\u201d. Reform\u2019s plans to repeal the Equality Act<\/a> would have \u201ca chilling effect on the rights of women\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are not the party that is going to stand up for families like mine, for families of all different shapes and sizes,\u201d she said. \u201cI do worry that Reform will just turn the clock back.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking at the bustling Harmood family hub in Camden, north London, Bailey said the one-stop-shop centre <\/a>\u2013 where parents can access services including childcare, health, parenting tips and support \u2013 was a model for the first 200 of 1,000 new Best Start family hubs<\/a> that will open in England from Monday. Ministers say the plan is backed by almost \u00a31bn of funding, including \u00a3500m specifically for the hubs.<\/p>\n The centres would not be a \u201cplug and play\u201d copy of Sure Start \u2013 which peaked at about 3,600 sites under Gordon Brown \u2013 but would work with private and voluntary sector childcare settings while keeping the \u201csame ambition\u201d, she said. A study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies<\/a> found that those living near a Sure Start centre in their early years got better GCSE results, were in hospital less often and had fewer absences from school. More than 1,400 of the centres were closed from 2010 onwards.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was absolutely criminal what the Conservatives did to Sure Start. It gutted the heart out of communities across the country,\u201d said Bailey. \u201cParents tell me they feel like they are passed around between services and don\u2019t know where to go to get help [but] Best Start hubs are driving this connection between services, and driving this sense of community again.\u201d<\/p>\n The hubs will also be a part of government plans to overhaul how children with special educational needs are supported<\/a>, with \u00a3200m allocated to fund a family-facing Send practitioner in every hub. Bailey said: \u201cWe saw with Sure Start [that] if you get that help with speech and language, or whatever it may be, to children early it reduces the need for a Send diagnosis further down the track.\u201d<\/p>\n