§ Mr. DobbinTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the progress of the Sure Start pilots. [111666]
§ Yvette CooperI have been asked to reply.
Of the 60 Sure Start trailblazers that were announced in January 1999, 47 have now received approval and are now starting to help young children and their families. The remaining 13 will follow shortly. In November 1999 we launched the second wave of Sure Start by inviting a further 69 areas to develop local programmes, and these are now drawing up their outline plans. This brings the number of Sure Start programmes so far announced to 129, more than half-way towards the target of 250 by March 2002.