I'm very clear, and have written in these pages recently, that investment in the early years is absolutely critical. A child's birth should not determine their fate, and for too many children this is still the case.
Last week, we announced that we are removing the requirement to provide full daycare for children's centres in the most disadvantaged areas. However, we still expect centres to provide the level of childcare that parents in the area need and the additional services that local communities rely on. We are also removing the requirement for centres to have both an Early Years Professional and a Qualified Teacher. We are instead leaving it up to them to choose which of the two roles is right for their centre, to provide the highest quality advice and expertise.
We know the higher the quality of early years services, the better the outcomes for children. Key to this is working with families in the very early years to tackle disadvantage and improve children's life chances. Children's centres are at the heart of this agenda, which is why we want to give them more freedom to meet the needs of families in their area.
Last month's spending review demonstrated the Government's commitment to early years, and it's in part thanks to the campaigning work of the sector that I was able to argue for, and secure, a good settlement on Sure Start. This was by no means inevitable.
There is enough money in the system to maintain the network of Sure Start services and the extension of the free entitlement to 15 hours a week for all three- and four-year-olds, introduced in September this year. We also want to make sure that the poorest two-year-olds are given the best start, so we intend to legislate to make sure they can access free early years education from 2013.
I know local authorities will have to make tough decisions in the current financial climate, as the Government has had to do. But we trust them to serve the needs of their communities. By freeing up local areas from central dictats, and through the new Early Intervention Grant giving them freedom to use their resources more flexibly, they can really target support to the families who need it most.
We're clear that Sure Start children's centres should remain accessible to all families, but it's crucial that local authorities target the most vulnerable families in their communities. Local areas know far better than central Government who these families are. In the future we're going to pay local authorities on the basis of outcomes - to encourage them to invest in support and programmes which have been proven to work. Graham Allen's work on early intervention will help us to identify the approaches that make the most difference.
Many local authorities and children's centres have told me that because of low take-up of full daycare in children's centres in disadvantaged areas, provision is often subsidised out of budgets that should be used to provide other services, like family support and outreach to vulnerable families. I want areas to be free to use that money to do what they know is best for their communities, rather than continuing to fund empty childcare places in order to tick a box for the Government. That's why I announced last week that Sure Start children's centres will no longer be required to offer full daycare provision where there is no demand.
At the same time, it is really important that children's centres in disadvantaged areas continue to offer the free entitlement and early education to support vulnerable families. We know it's the quality of support that makes the biggest difference for children's development and we trust professionals to use their local knowledge and professional judgment to decide what level of graduate support they need in their own centres. But we still expect there to be at least one Early Years Professional or Qualified Teacher to provide leadership in centres.
We're clear that children's centres will continue to offer free nursery education for two-, three- and four-year-olds and additional hours where there is demand. Centres should be making sure that disadvantaged families get priority when these places are allocated. I encourage centres to carry on developing and supporting their childminder networks and individual childminders in their areas, to make sure that families can still access high quality childcare for the hours that they need.
Through reducing bureaucracy, giving local authorities greater independence and trusting professionals to do their job, we can better target resources at those who will benefit most from the excellent support children's centres offer.
