Nursery World - Universal free places plan scrapped

A plan to offer free nursery places for all two-year-olds has been scrapped by the Government, just two months after it was announced as part of a 1billion package to expand childcare.

The Government has reverted to its original plan to offer free placesonly to two-year-olds in the most deprived areas.

The commitment to extend the free entitlement to 20 hours also appearsto have been put on hold.

In his keynote speech to the Labour Party conference in September,Gordon Brown said the Government would 'stage by stage, extend freenursery places for two-year-olds for every parent who wants them inevery part of the country' (News, 24 September).

Details in the Chancellor's Pre-Budget report on Monday reveal that theGovernment has backtracked after assessing evidence on the value formoney of childcare and its long-term childcare objectives.

The report said, 'The value for money evidence demonstrates thatproviding a level of free provision for the most deprived two-year-olds,in line with the Prime Minister's commitment, is likely to have agreater positive impact on child outcomes than extending the numbers offree hours of childcare available to three- and four-year-olds beyondthe 15 hours per week they will receive by 2010-11.'

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included