The DfE said that removing the requirement for children’s centres in the 30 per cent most disadvantaged areas to provide full-time daycare would give settings more flexibility and help them to target their resources at the most disadvantaged.
Children’s centres in disadvantaged areas will still be able to offer full-time daycare but they should build their services around the free entitlement for two-, three- and four-year olds and tailor services to meet local demand, the DfE said.
The Government also revealed plans to introduce legislation to guarantee disadvantaged two-year-olds 15 hours a week of free childcare from 2013 and to remove the requirement for Sure Start Children’s Centres to hire both a qualified teacher and an Early Years Professional, which it said would reduce bureaucracy.
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