Ready to talk about the challenges ahead

I know from first-hand experience our young people are already starting out in the best possible hands. 

As I know you'll agree, childcare is about more than just where you leave your child. It's about development, and working closely with a family to give a child the very best start in
life.It's also about giving parents somewhere safe, loving and supportive to leave their children during the day, so that they can go out to work.

The cost of childcare, though, can significantly impact on a family's finances and affects people's opportunity to participate in the workforce and make work pay. We want to help hard-working people by removing those barriers and giving them more security at every stage of life. That is why we are doubling our free childcare offer so that working parents of threeand four-year olds will be able to receive 30 hours of free childcare per week.

It's a triple win for the 600,000 working families who will be eligible for this offer. Parents can return to the workplace and hold on to more of their hard-earned money while their children benefit from 30 hours of free, flexible childcare.

I want to reassure you that we know that some of you have said the funding we're providing for the current 15-hour entitlement isn't enough and that the rates passed down from councils to providers is an issue. Your calls have not fallen on deaf ears.

We are committed to increasing the average childcare funding rates paid to you and I will start a review before the summer. A new Government taskforce will also work to drive forward the plans and ensure not a moment is wasted in passing the benefits onto working families.

The early years count and your hard work is paying off. I've spoken previously of the moral mission facing all of us to get this right for the sake of our children and our children's children, and the evidence proves irrefutably that we have made huge strides in the past 12 months. High-quality early education helps to give many children the best start in life. It also plays a crucial role in helping people to go out to work, which is why the Government has promised to give working parents 30 hours of free childcare a week.

And that's not the only financial improvement to the system. Tax-Free Childcare will mean working parents will have 20 per cent of their childcare costs paid for by the Government, worth up to £2,000 per child per year - money that will go to childcare providers. And the Early Years Pupil Premium will give providers £300 per child to improve the quality of early years provision for disadvantaged children. All of this means there will be more support than ever before for families who need it most.

The future is bright for childcare. Even before the 30 hours per week offer, more children than ever were reaching the key developmental milestones set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. There are more highly skilled, qualified staff than ever before. And the Early Years Pupil Premium has been rolled out nationwide, which will help put the most disadvantaged children on the path to a more successful future.

We have also helped to upskill the workforce through paediatric first aid training and offer reduced-price defibrillators for nurseries, and the social investment fund will help see providers go from strength to strength.

None of this would have been possible without you - the nursery and playgroup workers, the school teachers, the childminders and the children's centre teams. It's an immense privilege to work hand in hand with you as we build a better foundation for the next generation.

As a dad myself, I get to see the creativity and enthusiasm of staff when I collect my son from nursery - and I see the results bearing fruit when he is at home. I see those very real benefits providers bring my son by helping him to play confidently, make friends and get his head around words and numbers.

So as we look ahead to the next five years, this is the challenge and I look forward to discussing this with many of you over the coming weeks and months.