The childcare minister speaks out against Labour figures

On a visit to a nursery on Monday, the Labour leader claimed that since the coalition Government came into power, there are a total of 35,000 fewer childcare places and 576 fewer Sure Start centres.

At the same time, he said, parents are facing a ‘childcare crunch’ with childcare costs up by 30 per cent.

However during an opposition debate yesterday, the education and childcare minister told the Labour party that they had ‘failed to grasp the numbers behind childcare’.

Ms Truss said that Labour had not included Ofsted figures on the number of childcare places available at schools, which account for 800,000 places.

She also said that claims by Ed Miliband that more than 500 children’s centres have closed are not true.

According to Ms Truss, just 45 children’s centres have closed since 2010, while some new centres have opened.

On claims that the cost of childcare places have risen under the coalition Government, the education and childcare minister accused Labour of referring to old figures published before 2010. Instead, she pointed to the National Day Nurseries Association’s report in June that showed 58 per cent of nurseries have frozen their fees.

Ms Truss added, ‘Labour have been cherry picking statistics. Figures show that childcare costs have stabilised under this Government.

‘Children’s centres are a massive success under the coalition Government. We are reforming the childcare system and there are signs that show it is working.’