Nursery World - Where to now? (2)

We need to have the vision to create a national infrastructure for school-age childcare, says the chief executive of Kids' Clubs Network, Anne Longfield For many years, Kids' Clubs Network (KCN) has pushed and sometimes pulled for better support for out-of-school childcare. The amazing growth in the number of out-of-school clubs over recent years makes it hard to remember that nine years ago there were only a few hundred clubs. As we enter the last months of the New Opportunities Fund childcare programme there is still much to be achieved, with sustainability remaining a big issue for many clubs.

For many years, Kids' Clubs Network (KCN) has pushed and sometimes pulled for better support for out-of-school childcare. The amazing growth in the number of out-of-school clubs over recent years makes it hard to remember that nine years ago there were only a few hundred clubs. As we enter the last months of the New Opportunities Fund childcare programme there is still much to be achieved, with sustainability remaining a big issue for many clubs.

The Chancellor's spending announcements for the next three years set out in the Comprehensive Spending Review, will take Government spending on childcare to a new high. 1.5bn a year will be invested to create 250,000 new childcare places plus new Children's Centres for 300,000 children. Additional help for childcare will also be provided in areas of disadvantage. Within this, funding for childcare will more than double in real terms between 2002/03 and 2005/06. As yet it is unknown how much money will be allocated to out-of-school care, but more details are expected in the autumn budget.

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