Children's sector welcomes Primarolo

Gill Frances, chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, said: "We are delighted to welcome Dawn who has already shown a proven commitment to tackling teenage pregnancy and can now help us take forward the issues in her new government department."

Kate Green, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: "We have worked with her in the past and know that child poverty is an issue close to her heart. She was very heavily involved with tax credits in the early days and they have played an important part in reducing child poverty, so we hope she'll be just as energetic in her new brief. She will be a very high-profile spokesperson for children, but we need more than words."

Kim Bromley-Derry, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said: "We welcome the arrival of Dawn Primarolo to the department and look forward to working with her towards the families green paper in the autumn and with the whole top team at the Department for Children, Schools and Families in delivering the commitments in The Children's Plan."

However, Bromley-Derry questioned the impact of the transfer of apprenticeships and universities to a new department, which also looks after business and enterprise. He said: "While the benefits of integrating vocational training within policies for businesses are clear, we would be concerned that in a department with such a wide remit apprenticeships may not receive the attention that is required at this key stage of their development."