Labour MP welcomes return of free Sure Start-style services for families in Crawley

Families in Crawley will soon be able to benefit from free community sessions—ranging from playgroups to infant development classes—provided at local children and family centres to help support child development and ease the financial pressure on households.

As part of the goal of reversing cuts to the last Labour Government’s much-celebrated Sure Start programme, children and family centres in Bewbush and Broadfield are being redesignated as ‘Best Start Family Hubs’, able to provide a broader range of support services for local families.

By bringing breastfeeding specialists, parenting experts, and SEND practitioners under one roof, parents in Crawley no longer have to turn to expensive private consultants to get the specific support and guidance their children need.

Following cuts made under the Conservatives, West Sussex was one of 65 areas across the country left without government-funded family support. This opening marks a significant step in the Labour Party’s commitment to restore accessible, council-led family support to every part of the country.

Peter Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley said:

“Having campaigned for years against Conservative cuts to Crawley’s children and family centres, I am delighted to have been able to secure the return of Sure Start-style services to our town.

“Crawley has some of the worst social mobility of any parts of the country, it is one of the issues on which I fought the last election. Sure Start showed that it was possible to transform social mobility and the opening of Best Start Family Hubs in Broadfield and Bewbush is a huge step in the right direction.”