Education secretary David Blunkett told delegates at the Pre-school Learning Alliance's 40th anniversary conference in London that if re-elected Labour would fund between 100 and 150 pre-schools as Neighbourhood Nurseries in deprived parts of England over the next three years. It took the Alliance president Alan Tuckett to draw attention to the promise, which could be worth at least 20m. He called for a round of applause for Mr Blunkett and told the conference, 'The 100 to 150 Neighbourhood Nurseries is the culmination of what we asked for last year.' In a good-humoured speech Mr Blunkett sought to build bridges with pre-schools and playgroups. He acknowledged that the Government had not always seen eye to eye with the voluntary sector and called for the disagreements of the past 'to be put behind us'.
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