Chancellor George Osborne will announce an extra £380m a year for the plans in his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons today.
Up to 260,000 two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of nursery education a week.
The strategy is part of the Government’s focus on early intervention, which aims to close the gaps between children from the poorest families and their peers befor etehy start school.
The National Day Nurseries Association welcomed the move.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of NDNA, said, ‘We are very pleased with this announcement. Early intervention has been proven to have long term benefits for children, families, society and the economy and investment in early years is the right thing to do for Britain’s future.
'Most of the children that this move will benefit are not currently accessing any formal early education so this will make a real difference to their future learning and life chances.
‘Nurseries will be keen to support this investment and are well placed to provide the high quality early education that is needed, along with support for families.
‘It is vital that the right level of funding is available to support high quality early education and that this funding gets to the frontline in nurseries.
'There must also be enough good quality places available for two-year-olds and local authorities will need to work closely with nurseries and other providers to ensure that support is in place.’
Meanwhile, the charity 4Children urged the Chancellor to re-consider his decision, largely expected, to freeze tax credits for families on low incomes.
Chief executive Anne Longfield said, ‘Any intention by the Chancellor to freeze tax credits for low income families at a time when the Government is trying to encourage people back to work could be counter-productive.
‘On a daily basis we hear how ordinary families face falling incomes and rising prices, and those who rely on tax credits are already struggling to make ends meet. The coalition government is committed to helping families, but with inflation running around 5 per cent, a proposed cut to tax credits would be a further real terms cut in family incomes.
‘A freeze on tax credits could make it harder for low income families to sustain themselves in work and stay off benefits. Such a move would clearly fail the government’s much vaunted ‘family test’ and its commitment to become the most family-friendly country in Europe.’
