Parents in England's most deprived communities will get £200 grants for taking part in programmes to improve the health, well-being and social development of their children.

The £13 million Child Development Grant scheme was unveiled by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of what he identified as "the great test of our time - to build a fairer, more prosperous and upwardly mobile Britain".

Ten pilot projects in low-income neighbourhoods will trial the one-off grants as part of a £125 million three-year drive announced in the Budget to find innovative solutions to child poverty.

Based on schemes in the US, where parents are rewarded for things like making sure their children attend health check-ups and receive immunisation jabs, the grants are targeted at the most hard-to-reach parents who currently do not take up services offered by children's centres.

The pilots will test whether offering cash incentives can encourage socially-excluded parents to participate in agreed programmes of action to improve their children's well-being.

Speaking to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust in London, Mr Brown said the project forms part of his ambition "to see a Britain that is upwardly mobile once again".

"Social mobility starts with parents wanting their children to do better than they did themselves," he said.

"But it cannot be achieved without people themselves adopting the work ethic, the learning ethic and aiming high.

"So it also depends on Government giving people the capacity to participate fully in shaping the future."

Looking back at the inability of some of his own school friends to achieve the same success in life which was open to him, Mr Brown said his experiences had driven his determination to ensure that all children have the opportunity to make the most of their lives.

"They lead me to a guiding commitment," he said.

"That for every child we can say that their destiny is not written for them, but written by them; to create a Britain where what counts is not where you come from but what you aspire to become."

And he concluded: "I know that the challenge we face is great and has been with us for decades.

"But it is the great test of our time: to build a fairer, more prosperous and upwardly mobile Britain; to tackle injustice, to remove prejudice and discrimination wherever we find them; to raise aspirations for the future - a better Britain for our children, a better life for them than we had.

"And I believe we, as a nation, can be optimistic about the prospects ahead."

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