§ 30. Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on progress in implementing the Sure Start programme. [119654]
189W
§ Yvette CooperI have been asked to reply.
Of the 60 Sure Start trailblazer programmes that were announced in January 1999, 57 have now received approval and are starting to help young children and their families. The remaining three will follow shortly. In November 1999 we launched the second wave of Sure Start by inviting a further 69 areas to start work to develop local programmes. All of these are now working on drawing up their final plans. This brings the number of Sure Start programmes so far announced to 129.