Nursery World - Multi-department review set for early years sector

Across-cutting review of the early years sector in England is to be undertaken by the Government. During a lengthy question and answer session by the Education and Skills Select Committee, early years minister Catherine Ashton last week spoke about the wide-ranging review being conducted by the Performance and Innovation Unit, which is part of the Cabinet Office. She assured the committee that the review showed the Government was still enthusiastic about the early years sector in its second term of office and that it was 'to signal to people that we take (the early years) even more seriously'.

During a lengthy question and answer session by the Education and Skills Select Committee, early years minister Catherine Ashton last week spoke about the wide-ranging review being conducted by the Performance and Innovation Unit, which is part of the Cabinet Office. She assured the committee that the review showed the Government was still enthusiastic about the early years sector in its second term of office and that it was 'to signal to people that we take (the early years) even more seriously'.

Baroness Ashton told the Select Committee she was chairing the Treasury-led review and was being supported by Dawn Primarolo, the Paymaster General. Other ministers overseeing the review were Patricia Hewitt, minister for women, and Baroness Hollis, the parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions with responsibility for children. She said, 'That is a fairly inclusive group, I would argue. The purpose of that is to examine where we have reached and start to think beyond the comprehensive spending review into where childcare goes.'

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