Three weeks after the general election, it was still no clearer where responsibility for the early years lies in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DfWP), created from the former Department for Education and Employment and Department for Social Security.
This, combined with the Government's emphasis on secondary education and univer-sities, as underlined in last week's Queen's Speech, has worried early years organisations, along with the confusion over who is in charge of the sector and the length of time it took to announce the appointments.
On 18 June the DfES told Nursery World that Stephen Timms, school standards minister, would be in charge of the early years. The following day it announced that Baroness Ashton was in fact the minister in charge of early years. However, the DfWP had said Baroness Hollis, minister for children and the family, would be responsible for areas including childcare, and integrated child credit and child benefit.
By last Friday both the DfES and DfWP were unable to confirm where responsibility for the early years and childcare resides in the departments. A DfES spokeswoman said, 'It is still under discussion between both camps. There's nothing more we can say until it is set in stone.' The National Day Nurseries Association said the confusion showed the Government no longer saw the early years as a priority. Its chief executive, Rosemary Murphy, said, 'The focus of having Margaret Hodge as the minister responsible for early years is no longer there. The worry for early years organisations is that we'll be running around five or six ministers to try to make one point.'
It appears Margaret Hodge's old job has been divided up in the DfES between Baroness Ashton, Stephen Timms, and John Healey, adult skills minister, who is overseeing further education and training and the National Training Organisations, and Baroness Hollis at the DfWP. However, the DfES said Baroness Ashton is in charge of early years education and childcare, daycare services and its interest in Sure Start.
Her other responsibilities include the assessment and testing of children from age five to 14, the literacy and numeracy strategies in primary schools, class sizes, rural schools, and school playing fields. But because Baroness Ashton is restricted to speaking in the House of Lords, Mr Timms will address the early years in the House of Commons.
The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses expressed unease at the situation. Professional officer Tricia Pritchard said, 'We want to meet the new minister to discuss a number of issues, including the registration of nannies. Who do we contact?'
National Early Years Network chief executive Eva Lloyd said, 'It's worrying that things may become more disjointed, rather than joined-up Government.'
