Naomi Eisenstadt, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford, said while the programme had achieved many of its aims, the aspiration that it would span children from conception to the age of four had not been met.
The former civil servant who was in charge of overseeing the Sure Start programme under Labour, was speaking at an Institute for Government event about the successes and challenges of the Sure Start programme.
She said: "We lost the babies. We were originally a minus nine months to plus four years programme. I used to say that when I went to the Department for Education in 1999 they thought that children were born at five, when I left they thought that children were born at two, but we did lose the babies."
Register Now to Continue Reading
Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's Included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Email newsletter providing advice and guidance across the sector
Already have an account? Sign in here
