In a city like Cambridge, everyone agrees education matters. Education is central to Labour's mission to deliver social justice and equality of opportunity. We are committed to extending high quality education, personalised to each and fair to all. We believe there should be no cap on achievement and no limit to aspiration.

Education begins at birth, and I am proud of Labour’s record in helping both parents and their children from an early age. Under this government, the welfare state has grown – providing options for parents previously left to fend for themselves. I am a great supporter of the Sure Start Programme, introduced by Labour. The centres offer children a chance to learn valuable social skills whilst giving their parents a welcome break and the chance to form meaningful friendships. At the last election, Labour promised to extend Sure Start so that every community would benefit, and this has been achieved with new centres opening across Cambridge.

The Government devolved responsibility for the scheme to local councils, but I have been disappointed at the way the Conservative run county council has managed the transition, with popular drop-in sessions in Chesterton, Arbury and Abbey under threat. After visiting these sessions and hearing from parents about their importance, I am convinced that the County should ensure that these valuable services are retained.

Sure Start sets the education process in motion – teachers tell me that by the time children come to school patterns of learning are already set – yet it is just the beginning of the story. Nationally, I am pleased to say, there are more teachers in schools than at any point in the last 20 years - 28,000 more than in 1997 and 105,000 new support staff. Already over 250,000 people are benefiting from Labour's Education Maintenance Allowance. The earn-as-you-learn allowances offer a financial incentive to help combat the culture of 'dropping out' of education at 16. As I saw during a recent visit to Mayfield Primary, schools are also benefiting from hi-tech government initiatives such as the installation of solar panels, and,  more recently, smart electricity meters.

I support local education authorities, but am concerned about some of the judgements made by Cambridgeshire County Council. Council resources are of course limited, yet it has recently been projected that Cambridge Primary schools will only have space for 990 five year old pupils in 2012/13, whilst 1460 will be of that age. If the council is not prepared to take action, I will provide all the pressure I can to make them address this. The knock-on effects for local schools are too serious to be ignored.

Despite this, there are real success stories locally.  Cambridge Regional College is undergoing a £23 million redevelopment, whilst Ofsted’s 2009 report indicated that the city includes many ‘outstanding’ schools and childcare providers. Recent measures such as the £300 million investment to provide free laptops and broadband to 270,000 low income families and their children illustrate how Cambridge families will continue to benefit from a Labour Government.