Nursery World - 2020 vision (1)

The price of universal childcare provision will be well worth paying if it leads to greater parental choice and better training for the workforce, argues Vidhya Alakeson At the Labour Party's annual conference at the end of September, both the prime minister and the chancellor put early years at the centre of the Government's agenda for a third term. A promise from Gordon Brown on day one to extend paid parental leave to 12 months was followed by Tony Blair's pledge to create 'universal, affordable and flexible childcare for the parents of all three-to 14-year-olds who want it'.

At the Labour Party's annual conference at the end of September, both the prime minister and the chancellor put early years at the centre of the Government's agenda for a third term. A promise from Gordon Brown on day one to extend paid parental leave to 12 months was followed by Tony Blair's pledge to create 'universal, affordable and flexible childcare for the parents of all three-to 14-year-olds who want it'.

Previous claims that early years was the new frontier of the welfare state appeared to be taking shape. If the reality of government policy is to match the ambition of Labour's rhetoric in this area, what should we expect to see in the ten-year strategy for early years to be published later this year?

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