PRE-SCHOOL LEARNING ALLIANCE

Early day motion 1314, tabled 3 June 2003 by Karen Buck (Labour). Signed by 151 members.

That this House warmly congratulates the Pre-school Learning Alliance, whose 100,000 pre-school staff provide childcare for some 500,000 children, on their Changing Lives, Changing Life campaign and wishes it all success; takes note of the long standing commitment of the pre-school movement to help children to succeed, to create the childcare which families need and to build learning communities; endorses a partnership approach involving Government, the voluntary sector and other providers to providing solutions to social and economic problems; acknowledges the cross-cutting nature of childcare and its capacity to involve parents in their own continuing education and to contribute, through this, to combating poverty and to social inclusion and renewal; and calls upon the government to renew its efforts to create a childcare place for every child, particularly those children in poverty, to promote continuity for children through a common regulatory framework to build the capacity for the voluntary sector to grow effectively and to ensure that all parents are given opportunities to have a say in the running of early education and childcare settings with access to drop-in and advice services, together with family and lifelong learning opportunities, regardless of whether their children are in private, voluntary or state provision.

Signatures by party: Labour 87, Liberal Democrat 30, Conservative 23, Labour/Co-operative 7, UUP 2, Independent 1, Independent Conservative 1.