IF the Labour Party gets into power at the next General Election, it will give old people the chance to be foster grandparents to families with no elderly relatives of their own. This would allow them to give advice and practical support to families who need an injection of mature expertise that grandma and grandpa have traditionally offered, but on which many modern nuclear families now miss out.

Health visitors would also get a new role in advising parents about the education and development of their children until youngsters start primary school.

Parenting lessons in school, community education programmes, guaranteed nursery places and new, all-service early excellence centres are included in their plans.

This all sounds like a sensible move in the direction of early identification and prevention of children's problems, although critics would point out that it's easy to suggest inventive schemes when you don't have to balance the national books.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.