Manchester’s Surestart Consultations: A flawed argument

Hulme Greens recently commented on the news that the Council was to cut funding to Manchester’s Sure Start services. These cuts were happening against a back drop of high local child poverty and riots in the city.As the Council moves forward with its plans, it has started a consultation process outlining its reasons for the Sure Start cuts, proposals for the future, a questionnaire and series of public events.The extensive public consultations are to be commended, with events over 2 months covering most of the Sure Start venues in the city. (It also helpfully published a Directory of Support for Parents and Carers.)But Manchester City Council’s...

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October Events 2011: Hulme and Manchester

Below are some events happening in Hulme and further afield. If there anything you think we should add in, let us know. We hope to produce an events list monthly now. October 2011 Hulme Saturday October 23rd Hulme Community Gardens, Apple and Pumpkin Day http://www.hulmegardencentre.org.uk/ October 2011 Debdale EcoCentre/ Hulme Community Gardens http://debdale-ecocentre.org.uk/training October 2011 Arcspace http://firmstart.myzen.co.uk/page.phtml?id=60...

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True Mancunians, SureStart and Youth Services

Six weeks after the riots, comes news from Manchester City Council (MCC) confirming it will cut funding to the city’s SureStart centres. With one of the main factors suggested for the cause of the riots being poverty and with rioters coming from high deprivation areas, this is particularly bad news. But what is Surestart? “Sure Start was part of a Labour government policy to prevent social exclusion, and as such, it was targeted at preschool children and their families in disadvantaged areas. The initiative was the result of a cross cutting review of services for young children chaired by the Treasury. The review's conclusions focused on the...

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