The prime minister himself took to the podium at the Daycare Trust's annual conference in London to announce the Government's plans for childcare for parents of school-age children and a move towards universal childcare for those from nought to 14 by the end of a Labour third term.
Tony Blair told the delegates, 'Today and over the next few weeks we will publish detailed, costed steps to expand the choices and services available to every parent and to ensure every child has the best start in life.'
Mr Blair said that during the next Parliament there would be before- and after-school care available to all primary school children, with schools open from 8am to 6pm throughout the year. By 2008 a third of secondary schools would be extended schools with activities for children aged 11 to 14.
Mr Blair said he wanted 'an end to latchkey kids as we move from the traditional welfare state to an opportunity society that helps families with the daily problems they face'.
He added that a Labour Government would legislate to place a new statutory duty on local authorities to ensure there was sufficient childcare available. 'We want to develop integrated and personalised services through a diverse range of providers - the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Schools, nurseries, playgroups, childminders - all have a crucial role to play.'
The Prime Minister said that although there would be no changes to rights for working parents before 2006 - 'to give new measures time to bed down' - he wanted to extend parental leave in the longer term.
He also said that the expansion of children's centres provided 'a great new opportunity for primary schools to develop their under-five provision in a wholly more ambitious and systematic way than before'.
Early years organisations welcomed the importance placed on childcare by both political parties, but stressed that universal entitlement would require significant increases in investment.
Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said, 'Any Government will in the future need to more than double current investment in childcare to the region of 10bn, building on current spending and parental contributions, if the vision of universal affordable childcare for all is to be realised.'
Irene Audain, chief executive of the Scottish Out of School Care Network, said she hoped that any proposed reforms for childcare for children at school would be UK-wide.
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said that while she welcomed the Government's commitment to out-of-school childcare, it did 'nothing to alleviate the affordability of childcare for under fives, leaving parents still paying the lion's share of the costs'.
The National Childminding Association said the commitment to universal childcare should be 'applauded' and it was delighted that the role of childminding had been highlighted.
Following his speech the Prime Minister took part in a brief question and answer session with conference delegates.
Asked whether Labour's ten-year plan would guarantee a highly qualified workforce and fund training to raise the status of the early years workforce, he replied that there would be 'significant funding precisely for workforce qualifications'.
The ten-year plan for childcare is expected at the time of the Pre-Budget Report on 2 December.
