The Labour Party has promised a raft of measures to strengthen not-for-profit services for children and young people.
Its 2015 manifesto, released today, outlines plans to continue a commitment to the National Citizen Service, reinstate Sure Start Centres and introduce a new National Primary Childcare Service.
The manifesto said Labour would “encourage” social action and volunteering among young people by supporting the #iwill campaign of ‘Step up to Serve’, and the National Citizen Service – a programme that aims to build skills for 16 and 17-year-olds.
The party also pledged to reinvigorate controversial Sure Start Centres, designed to help children in areas of deprivation.
But Labour said the centres would be reinstated as “family hubs” to “prioritise early years intervention” and “give children and parents the best start in family life”.
“Sure Start will have an obligation to provide families with access to childcare, opening their facilities to charities and local childcare providers. More widely, we will encourage local services to co-locate, so that they work together to shift from sticking plaster solutions to integrated early help,” the manifesto said.
Last week the Children’s Society said it had walked away from millions of pounds of government contracts, primarily involving Sure Start Centres, following impact reports that highlighted their ineffectiveness.
National Primary Childcare Service
Labour also announced plans to expand childcare services from 15 to 25 hours per week for working parents of three and four-year-olds and provide more before and after-school clubs, underpinned by a new not-for-profit organisation called the National Primary Childcare Service which it said would promote the “voluntary and charitable delivery of quality extracurricular activities”.
Take away rate relief from private schools
Labour also warned that private schools could face losing out on business rates relief unless they form “meaningful partnerships” with state schools.
The manifesto said: “Private schools currently benefit from generous state subsidies, including business rates relief worth hundreds of millions of pounds. We believe they should do more to contribute to raising standards in state education to justify receiving this subsidy.
"As a condition for continued business rate relief, private schools will be required to form a meaningful partnership with a school, or cluster of schools, in the state sector.”
Additional reporting by Kirsty Weakley
