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<P> Can Margaret Hodge overturn New Labour's patchy record on early years? <B> Professor Helen Penn </B> has suggestions for the minister overseeing an integrated approach </P>

Can Margaret Hodge overturn New Labour's patchy record on early years? Professor Helen Penn has suggestions for the minister overseeing an integrated approach

Margaret Hodge has been appointed Minister for Children in the recent Government reshuffle. Her new duties give her overall responsibility for early years, as well as a broader remit for children's rights and children's welfare. She is reputed to be very pleased with this enlarged brief.

Whatever people think of her performance as a minister, most acknowledge that Ms Hodge cared about and raised the status of early years in her previous role at the then Department for Education and Employment. She understood the issues and gave them high priority, even if her style was abrasive and her decisions not always welcome. She was missed when she transferred to another Government job. Her replacement, Baroness Ashton, has not made the same impression.

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