Nursery World - Free nursery places for two-year-olds to double

The number of nursery places for two-year-olds will be extended to 40 per cent of children, from 2014-15.

Chancellor George Osborne will announce an extra £380m a year for the plans in his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons today.

Up to 260,000 two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of nursery education a week.

The strategy is part of the Government’s focus on early intervention, which aims to close the gaps between children from the poorest families and their peers befor etehy start school.

The National Day Nurseries Association welcomed the move.

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of NDNA, said, ‘We are very pleased with this announcement. Early intervention has been proven to have long term benefits for children, families, society and the economy and investment in early years is the right thing to do for Britain’s future.

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