BBC's Alison Holt: A vital part of the policy of strengthening the family

Under the cross-departmental Sure Start programme, parents of around 125,000 toddlers in deprived areas will receive advice and support on education, health and child development from 250 local projects over the next three years.

Within three months of the birth of a child, a representative of the Sure Start programme will visit a family to assess their needs.

Services will be available to all families within the catchment area, but those not on low incomes will have to pay for them.

They will include:

• Primary healthcare advice on breastfeeding and caring for children.
  
• Support for children with learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties.
  
• Literacy and numeracy classes for parents, who will also be encouraged to attend nursery classes with their children.
  
• A range of childcare, including stimulating play facilities for children.
  

Ministers believe the scheme will help youngsters in disadvantaged areas to have an equal start in life with children from better-off backgrounds, by developing a "one-stop-shop" approach to local family support services.

There will be fundamental advice on parenting

The prime minister launched the programme at the newly opened Thomas Coram Community Campus in Bloomsbury, central London. He was accompanied by the Education Secretary, David Blunkett, and the Health Minister, Tessa Jowell.

Mr Blair said: "The Sure Start programme is probably the biggest investment any government has made into co-ordinating all the facilities for young children.

"So, parents get the help they need with child care, children get proper nursery education and we get the right co-ordination between all the different government departments so that parents and children get a Sure Start.

"All the evidence shows that if you give kids a really good start early on in life, they learn quicker, they do better and they are probably more likely to grow up into responsible adults."

The first Sure Start project is due to open next April, using existing clinics, schools and colleges. The post of head of the programme was advertised on 14 October.

The Tories dismissed the move as "another classic example of Labour's nanny state instincts".

The Shadow Education Secretary, David Willetts, said: "They can't stop interfering in people's lives."