Nursery World - Exclusive: The Minister's view

The Government has written to all local authorities confirming the funding they will receive to deliver frontline services, including details of the new Early Intervention Grant. I'd like to outline in more detail what the EIG means for early years services.

Investing in high-quality education in the early stages of a child's life is critical to tackling disadvantage and helping every child achieve their full potential. It also makes sense financially. That's why we are reforming Sure Start services to target the neediest and are extending the offer of 15 hours of free childcare a week to all disadvantaged two-year-olds. Together with the pupil premium in schools, this will mean that we are supporting the poorest children at every stage of their education.

It was welcome to see this approach reflected in the recommendations published recently by Frank Field in his independent review on poverty and life chances. Identifying and supporting families early, before problems escalate, is at the heart of our approach. Sure Start children's centres, together with schools, health services, police and other services, should all be concerned to spot and support the most vulnerable families early. The EIG will help to do this. It brings together funding for universal, as well as specialist services, and is worth £2,212m in 2011/12 and £2,297m in 2012/13.

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