Universal free places for two-year-olds scrapped by Government

Instead, the Government has reverted to its original plan to make the offer only in the most deprived areas.
In his keynote speech to the Labour Party conference in September, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the Government would ‘stage, by stage, extend free nursery places for two-year-olds for every parent who wants them in every part of the country’ (News, 24 September).
But details in the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget report on Monday (24 November) reveal that the Government has reverted to its original plan after assessing evidence on the value for money of childcare and its long-term childcare objectives.
The report said, ‘The value for money evidence demonstrates that providing a level of free provision for the most deprived two-year-olds, in line with the Prime Minister’s commitment, is likely to have a greater positive impact on child outcomes than extending the numbers of free hours of childcare available to three- and four-year-olds beyond the 15 hours per week they will receive by 2010-11.’
The Conservatives accused Gordon Brown of going back on his pledge.
Shadow children’s secretary Michael Gove said, ‘The real effects of the Government’s mismanagement of the economy are buried deep in the detail of the emergency budget. Gordon Brown is going back on a pledge he made just a few weeks ago to provide free childcare for two-year-olds.’
But a DCSF spokesperson said,  ‘It is nonsense to suggest that we are not taking forward our pledge on free childcare for two-year-olds. We are already rolling this out to disadvantaged two-year-olds in 63 local authorities, and it remains our long-term ambition to extend this to all two-year-olds. Next steps towards this will be included in our updated childcare strategy, which will be issued soon.’