As Cathy Wallace finds out, the early years initiative looks like it might finally be coming of age.
"We're on a journey," children's minister Beverley Hughes told the hundreds of children's centre managers at their first national conference. "We're not at the end of the road. But the signs are positive."
It's been a bumpy road. Since the first Sure Start trailblazer in 1998, the programme has been dogged by criticism. Sure Start has been accused of everything from being a thinly-veiled "middle-class mums' club" to failing disadvantaged and ethnic minority families.
The National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS), an independent study following the programme's impact, has not always been favourable. Three years ago the study flagged up a number of negative effects, including failure to reach those whose need is greatest.
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