2 May Labour promises to 'uphold family life' and 'tackle the division and inequality in our society', in part through a national childcare strategy.
Aug Early Excellence Centre (EEC) pilots launched.
Sept Nursery vouchers abolished and replaced by education grant (NEG).
* A nursery place is availble for every four-year-old.
Dec 90,000 jobs to be created to meet ten-fold rise in out-of-school clubs in next five years.
1998
May PM Tony Blair unveils National Childcare Strategy, aiming to provide good-quality, affordable childcare for children aged 0 to 14 (and to 16 for those with SEN or disabilities).
Jul 540m Sure Start unveiled.
Sept Baseline assessment is introduced.
Oct Childminding networks launched.
* Over 350 after-school clubs open in a month.
* 7m to save pre-schools.
* Early years qualifications framework nears completion.
Dec At least 20,000 teaching assistants' jobs to be created in schools over next five years.
* 5m for childcare places for parents in further education.
* School Standards and Framework Act gives go-ahead for creation of EYDCPs, Education Action Zones and cuts in infant class sizes.
1999
Feb 60 per cent of four-year-olds now attend school.
Mar PM Tony Blair pledges to eradicate child poverty within 20 years.
* Proposed early learning goals for the new Foundation Stage (FS) are met with opposition.
Apr National Minimum Wage comes into force.
Jul QCA appoints early years experts to help draw up FS guidance.
Oct 700 pre-schools close and 10,000 childminders give up work in past year (DfES figures).
* Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) and Childcare Tax Credit (CTC) begin.
2000
Apr 3,500 pre-schools may close in next year, says PLA.
* Most EYDCPs have early years development plans approved.
Jun Recruitment campaign launched to attract 83,000 workers into childcare by 2003.
Jul Commons committee grills minister Margaret Hodge about childcarers'
lack of pay, training and status.
Aug Draft care standards attacked for allowing childminders to 'smack and smoke' and recommending only half of staff in sessional and full daycare have only a Level 2 qualification.
Sept FS curriculum begins.
Nov 7m lifeline for nursery schools.
2001
Jan Tax credit fraud continues to cost nurseries dear.
Feb 300m Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative launched, aiming to create 900 nurseries in deprived areas by 2004.
Mar U-turn on national standards - all managers, deputies and room leaders to have a Level 3 qualification.
* Qualified nursery nurses earn 3.80-5.00 an hour (Income Data Services).
* Investors in Children scheme launched. Four in ten providers to be accredited by 2004.
* New funding methods for NVQs raise fears about quality.
Jul EarlyExcellence Centre numbers to rise to 100 by 2004.
Aug Classroom assistants are increasingly taking on role of teachers (Open University).
Sept National Standards come into force.
* Ofsted takes on registration and inspection of childcare for the under-eights.
* EPPE research shows nursery schools and classes, combined and local authority, offer better- quality provision overall.
* Foundation degrees begin.
Dec Government rejects early years sector's initial bid to have its own Sector Skills Council.
2002
Mar Early Years National Training Organisation is axed.
* The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) takes over police checks on childcarers.
Apr Reformed tax credit system to be extended to 'home care', but nannies will not be eligible. A registered 'home childcarer' status to be created.
May Out-of-school provision doubles 1998-2001 (DfES).
* Recruitment and retention of childcarers has reached crisis point (Daycare Trust).
Jun CRB checks to be processed in India to clear backlog.
Jul Plans to create centres providing health, education and childcare services in the 20 per cent most deprived wards revealed in Comprehensive Spending Review.
Aug REPEY and SPEEL studies reveal importance of child-initiated learning and of having teachers in early years settings.
Sept FS Profile replaces baseline assessment.
* Schools can no longer discriminate against any current or future pupils, following provisions made in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001.
Nov Plans for 'radical restructuring' of school workforce unveiled, including 'higher level' assistants and workload agreement.
* Birth to Three Matters framework is introduced.
Dec Ofsted urges DfES to review Literacy Strategy and place greater emphasis on phonics as literacy results stall.
* Sure Start Unit created.
2003
Feb Government unveils plans for extended schools.
* New recruitment drive of childcarers begins.
Mar Government to rebrand Early Excellence Centres, Sure Start projects that offer childcare and Neighbourhood Nurseries as children's centres.
Apr The Working Tax Credit (WTC) replaces WFTC.
* Combined inspections are introduced, along with three-point quality grading system.
* Government's home childcarer scheme comes into force.
May Government U-turn forbids 'smoking and smacking' by childminders.
Jun Fast-track route to Level 3 (APEL) is announced.
* Margaret Hodge becomes first-ever Minister for Children.
* One in five under-eights have access to a registered childcare place (Ofsted).
Sept Every Child Matters Green Paper proposes child protection measures, full-service extended schools, local authority directors of children's services, a common assessment framework and five outcomes for children to tackle inequality.
* Lesley Staggs is appointed first-ever FS national director.
2004
Feb Sustainability of provision under threat; 626,000 childcare places opened but 301,000 closed (National Audit Office).
Apr Three-year-olds now eligible for free part-time nursery place.
Jun Margaret Hodge promises greater partnership between PVI providers and local authorities.
Jul Government five-year childcare plan is well received. Includes: 17 per cent rise in Sure Start budget, 120,000 more childcare places by 2008, 2,500 children's centres in 30 per cent most deprived areas.
Aug Some EYDCPs restructure to respond better to spate of Government initiatives.
Dec Ten-year childcare strategy unveiled, promising 3,500 children's centres by 2010, new duties for local authorities, an out-of-school childcare place for three- to 14-year-olds from 8am to 6pm each weekday by 2010, a goal of 20 hours a week for 38 weeks for all three- and four-year-olds.
2005
Mar Professor of child health Al Aynsley-Green becomes England's children's commissioner.
Apr Tax and NI exemption on the first 50 a week of employer-supported, approved childcare is introduced.
* Tax credit system extended to families with nannies and 'light-touch'
approval scheme introduced for nannies and home-based childcarers.
* New inspection regime introduced, including no-notice for nurseries and pre-schools.
* DfES launches the Children's Workforce strategy and the prospectus on the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children's Workforce.
* Children's centres facing cash shortfall.
* Free entitlement increases from 30 to 38 weeks.
* The new Occupational Standards in Children's Care, Learning and Development are approved, spanning the nought to16-year-old age group May Labour wins third General Election and Beverley Hughes becomes children's minister.
Jun Government starts to claw back some 2bn in overpayments of tax credits.
Jul Childcare Bill outlines new responsibilities for local authorities, including managing the childcare market.
Sept National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) is rolled out nationwide.
Nov The new sector skills council, Skills for Care and Development, is launched.
2006
Feb Government's ambitious Children's Workforce Strategy includes: Early Years Professional leading all children's centres by 2010 and all full daycare settings by 2015, a single qualifications framework in place by 2010, creation of the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and 250m Transformation Fund to raise proportion of Level 3 and graduate childcarers.
Mar 16m earmarked for creating workplace nurseries.
* Rose Review draws criticism for its emphasis on phonics.
Apr Pilots offering free childcare to disadvantaged two-year-olds begin.
* Childcare Implementation Project launched to test the best ways in which local authorities can fulfil new responsibilities under the Childcare Act.
* 5m pilot addressing childcare affordability in London begins.
* Code of Practice for the NEG bans top-up fees.
May Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) consultation launched. National press attacks 'curriculum for babies'; sector criticises extension of areas of learning to birth, developmental grids and proposed changes to ratios.
Jul The Childcare Act passes into law. Measures include formalising the strategic role of LAs, requiring them to improve the five ECM outcomes for all pre-school children in their areas and reduce inequalities.
* School support staff lose out under single status agreement.
Aug Kent nurseries take their campaign against shortfalls in the NEG nationwide as fury over code of practice spreads.
2007
Feb Average nursery cost for a child under two is 152 per week (Daycare Trust).
Mar Final EYFS guidance released to renewed criticism about its format.
* Government launches consultation on future funding for early years education.
Apr One million children and their families now have access to a children's centre and its services (Government figures). 1,250 centres now open.
* Some areas start to offer free nursery provision for 15 hours a week over 38 weeks.
* Paid maternity leave extended to nine months, with the Government's long-term goal being 12 months.
* Ofsted undergoes massive expansion and Ofsted Childcare Register begins for registering provision for school-aged children in wraparound or holiday care. Nannies can apply to be registered on the voluntary part of the OCR.
