Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 14th June 2010 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. Whether he plans to increase the amount of information Jobcentre Plus advisers may share with local health practitioners and Sure Start children’s centres.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

I have no current plans to increase the amount of information that Jobcentre Plus advisers can provide to local health practitioners and Sure Start children’s centres. Social security information can be shared with those parties with the consent of its customers.

[Mr Sheerman]

One hopes that the new Government will still support Sure Start children’s centres. Certainly, an inquiry of the former Children, Schools and Families Committee showed that the sharing of information was absolutely crucial. Does the hon. Lady agree that the sharing of information, knowing how our children are surviving and thriving and when they are in trouble, is vital to children’s future health and welfare?

[Maria Miller]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. As he will be aware, the coalition Government have protected Sure Start from in-year cuts, and I am sure that he and the whole House will welcome that announcement. He has looked at this issue in detail, and in the most recent report of the CSF Committee, of which he was the Chairman, there was no clear evidence that data sharing between Jobcentre Plus and children’s centres was a problem. However, there can be such a problem between children’s centres and health professionals. The Government believe that early intervention is absolutely vital in the work that we are doing to alleviate poverty and that co-ordination and signposting between those organisations are important. That is one of the reasons why we have put Sure Start health visitors in Sure State children’s centres.