Election News: News in brief

Children Now 19-Apr-05, 13:29

Labour said it would examine the development of a new parents' information service, called Parents Direct, to "provide advice on all aspects of children's services and parental entitlements".

It also reiterated its pledge to halve child poverty by 2010/11, and said it would increase paid maternity leave to nine months from 2007.

The Conservatives said they would give every child the right to two hours of after-school sport through a Club2School programme, at no cost to parents, and would ban junk food in schools.

Labour said it was the role of local authorities to make decisions on local provision for children with special educational needs. But the Conservatives said the "dogmatic pursuit of inclusion" under Labour had led to children suffering, and promised to introduce a moratorium on the closure of special schools.

The Liberal Democrats promised schools would be able to tackle persistent disruption through externally monitored "positive behaviour plans" with parents and pupils. If necessary, local education authorities' behavioural support units would tackle "exceptional problems in particular schools".

The Conservatives said they would introduce a "clear, bold and very public" health TV campaign to inform young people of the risks of sexually transmitted infections. Other health pledges included promises to "radically reduce" the number of primary care trusts and abolish strategic health authorities.

The Liberal Democrats pledged to maintain the right to free school transport for children who live more than two miles from their designated primary school and three miles from secondary school. They also said they would promote safe routes to school with safe pavements and adults conducting walking buses.

Labour said it stood by the principle that absent parents should contribute to the cost of bringing up their children, and said it was "committed to tackling the backlog of Child Support Agency claims as efficiently and fairly as possible".

Tory leader Michael Howard defended his decision to send one of his children to Eton, saying he had exercised his right to choose. "If there had been a state school in London that I would have had confidence in, I might have made a different choice," he insisted.