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Clegg defends funding record but calls for councils to pass on more

Councils should pass more free entitlement funding on to childcare providers, Nick Clegg said today.

While stopping short of promising to address the sector’s clarion call for more funding, the deputy prime minister also said the amount providers received was ‘not fossilised’ and ‘is something that future governments need to look at.’

Speaking at an event organised by the Pre-School Learning Alliance, he called the audience ‘bolshy’ and said, ‘Clearly you feel very strongly that the money you are receiving is not sufficient. To that I would say this: it is dependent on which part of the country you are in and local authorities will be receiving different amounts.’

The government needed to come up with a clearer calculation for councils so they could pass on more of this funding to nurseries, he added.

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