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Gordon Brown pledged to support families and ensure every child has the best start in life in his pre-budget statement this week, writes Clare Jerrom

The chancellor argued that families were the “bedrock of society” as he outlined the government’s childcare strategy during his report.

He pledged an extra £600 million for children and childcare by 2007-8 and explained that the 600 sure start children’s centres would be extended to 3,500 in England by 2010.

By early next year, children will be given £250 and poorer children will be given £500 as part of the Child Trust Fund. But the chancellor announced that the government would consult on extending the Child Trust Fund so that at the age of seven years old, children would receive a further payment of £250, or £500 for poorer children.

Parents will also be helped to spend more time with their children.Brown revealed that £285 million would be spent extending paid maternity leave from six months today to nine months from April 2007. The government would also have a year’s paid maternity leave as a future goal.

Employers will also be able to offer employees £50 extra a week for childcare free of tax or national insurance. The childcare tax credit will also be extended for those on lower and middle incomes.

Brown highlighted that two million families have no bank account which makes it more difficult for them to access employment. He announced £120 million to tackle this financial exclusion and to reduce by half the number of families without bank accounts.

The chancellor promised to extend the ‘in work’ credit to ensure 250,000 lone parents would be offered £40 a week or £2,000 a year as a first year back to work bonus. The Pathways to Work scheme for incapacity benefit claimants returning to work will also be extended to cover a third of the country.

An extra £125 million worth of resources were revealed by Brown for local authorities in England to ensure council tax rises will be substantially lower than the rise last year of 5.9 per cent.

He revealed that £512 million would be re-allocated to councils from other departments and a further £333 million would be made available for councils by reducing ring-fencing and other obligations.

Brown’s speech from www.hm-treasury.gov.uk