Speaking to Children Now Beverley Hughes said: "Everything we are doing on education and children and families is moving in the same direction towards integration."
She also rejected suggestions that the public had been "misled" by Government promises about children's centres, after it emerged some centres in more affluent areas could be like information kiosks (Children Now, 8-14 May).
Hughes also outlined her priorities to local authority chiefs in a private meeting last week. A source revealed she wanted to hear how children's trusts were progressing, what leadership challenges had been thrown up by Every Child Matters and what could be done to improve central and local government relations. But the minister disappointed some by failing to include the issue of workforce reform on her agenda.
