Speaking at the Montessori Schools Association conference at the Early Years and Primary Teaching exhibition in London on Saturday, Mr Willetts acknowledged the Labour Government's achievements but warned of the dangers of increasing over-regulation for nursery owners.
He described as 'absurd' the conditions nurseries were having to sign up to in order to claim the nursery education grant.
'It's great that there's more money going into early years but it seems that something has gone seriously wrong with some of the conditions that have been set. I strongly support the call that the Government should suspend the new rules,' he said.
He added that it was absurd that rules prescribing payment and allocations caused financial problems and made it impossible for nurseries to operate.
'What we should do is suspend the rules so that people can work out a framework for what is basically a well-intentioned initiative. But it shouldn't come surrounded by so many rules and regulations that it makes your life difficult.'
Mr Willetts acknowledged the achievements of the Labour Government's childcare policy. 'We would keep a lot of what's happened in the past few years, if we were in office.'
He also warned of the dangers of downward pressure on the early years.
'Something that worries me is the spread of formal schooling younger and younger, as people whose training is in older children find themselves also taking responsibility for younger and younger children. Some of those precious understandings about developing in the early years are being lost.'
He said he believed it was 'no accident' that the countries that do 'best on literacy and numeracy are the countries that start formal school later rather than earlier'.
