Nursery World - Nursery Management: Twos update

With the 40 per cent most disadvantaged two-year-olds now eligible for funded places, Hannah Crown takes a look at how prepared both nurseries, and councils, are to deliver.

Free nursery places for the parents of disadvantaged two-year-olds is a flagship policy of this Government. Yet the idea has been on the political agenda for a long time. In 1998 Labour introduced five 2.5-hour sessions of early years education for four-year-olds for 33 weeks of the year. This was preceded by nursery vouchers, which were introduced by the Conservative government in 1996 - the first programme of 'free' hours.

Now, the UK childcare sector finds itself embarking on its most ambitious era yet, with the 40 per cent most disadvantaged twos eligible for free places. We spoke to 13 nurseries to provide a snapshot of how the sector is preparing for the new intake. While many providers praise the ambitions of the scheme, they are having to carefully balance the books to ensure the two-year-old provision offered is affordable.

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