IT IS amazing that the Oxford East Conservative Party (Oxford Mail,
April 22) do not realise that their party in the Coalition Government in 2010 ended the Sure Start grant which funded children’s centres.

Indeed the Sure Start logos on the walls of the Department for Children and Families were painted over and the name of the Department changed to the Department for Education when they came to power in 2010.

Since then Tories have continued to cut the money to local government, money which funds services for children, young people, their families, those with disabilities and older people.

The Labour Group on the county council in February this year were not prepared to allow any further money to be cut from the children’s centre/ early intervention service (EIS) budget and got that agreed by council.

We will ensure that this money is spent on services currently provided in the children’s centres and EIS hubs in the new centres which will be set up in 2017.

Through vigorously lobbying there are now more centres than were at
first envisaged. We will ensure that universal services and other support services provided by our excellent staff continue to exist in these additional centres.

This is only possible as a result of council agreeing the £2m we put into the Labour budget because we knew it was the “moral” thing to do. The Labour councillors on the county council always try to act in the interests of the most vulnerable.

We don’t need a defunct organisation in East Oxford telling us about “moral
obligation”.

They would be better talking to their big wigs in government who do not appear to understand that reduced public expenditure means reduced services.

LIZ BRIGHOUSE
Leader of the Labour Group
Oxfordshire County Council