Speaking at Capita's Early Years Provision conference in London yesterday (24 January) Margaret Hodge said that when a new policy is introduced it is 'right' to ring-fence funding until it is embedded in local authority services. 'After a period of around five years, local authorities should then be left to make their own choices,' she said.
The conference brought together a panel including shadow children and families minister Sharon Hodgson and Conservative MP Craig Whittaker, to debate the challenges of the two-year-old roll out.
Questions from the floor centred on funding. A delegate from Barnet LA said that councillors set priorities and because money was not ring-fenced it was a battle to justify spending to ‘the masters’.
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