Like many operators of children's nurseries in the private sector, I am sometimes at a loss to understand the Government's true position on childcare. Do they genuinely believe in a public-private partnership - or are we in the private sector being duped? The question is an important one, and not just for us.
The private sector has spent around 3bn recreating nursery provision previously operated by local authorities, but which had been allowed to disappear because of lack of finance. Now that the private sector has re-established this infrastructure, central government policy seems determined to jeopardise its existence.
There are more than just a few cynics among us who believe that the 'old Labour' dogma of the inappropriate nature of private enterprise in education and healthcare is in fact the secret driver of government policy.
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