The money is intended to push forward the children's centre building programme in less disadvantaged areas.
Local authorities have been given capital grants to extend and modify buildings currently used for childcare provision as part of the drive to have 3,500 children's centres open by 2010.
The grant allocations come from the £4bn allocated to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) from the Comprehensive Spending Review (News, 9 August). Local authority funding allocation has been made based on the number of under-fives, weighted to take account of regional differences. Funding will be open to private and voluntary childcare settings.
A spokesperson for the DCSF said, 'It will be mainly developed around schools, health or other community facilities, such as youth halls and church buildings that already exist, rather than being new-builds, which was the norm in the first 1,000 centres. It could involve the voluntary and private sectors.'
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