§ Mr. Galleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the future of the under-fives initiative which is due to end in March 1987.
§ Mr. NewtonI have today given approval to two schemes costing a total of £550,000 in 1987–88 to help families with children under five.
The first scheme will provide tapering grants up to a planned total of £400,000 in 1987–88 to help the projects which have been set up under the under-fives initiative to secure alternative funding after the ending of the initiative. Of the 110 projects being funded under the initiative, nearly half are already financially secure for next year. The future of the remainder is still under discussion and the purpose of the tapering grants is to give local authorities or other local bodies some extra time to take on financial responsibility for particular projects. It is hoped that by making these arrangements all the projects started with initiative money will be secure after central Government money comes to an end.
The second scheme will enable selected national voluntary bodies to give small grants to local groups. It is planned that £150,000 should be available for this scheme in 1987–88 and it is hoped to be able to extend it for a further two years. The small grants scheme operated by three national voluntary bodies with initiative money was innovative and enabled them to give their local groups one-off grants which are often crucial to the continued existence of the particular service. We want to build on the lessons learned from this scheme which is good value for money and showed how the Government and the voluntary sector can work as partners in meeting social needs. Details are being worked out in consultation with the national voluntary bodies concerned.