I know that Nursery World readers will share my commitment to the provision of high-quality care for children. High-quality early learning opportunities give children a stronger start at school and bring them benefits that can carry through to age ten and beyond.
Our ten-year strategy, 'Choice for parents, the best start for children', set out our commitment to improve outcomes for all children and to narrow the gap between those most in need and other children, by providing all parents with the opportunity to access high-quality childcare and early education.
The free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds of 12 and a half hours per week, 38 weeks a year, is central to achieving our vision. It's vital that the entitlement is universal so that all children, regardless of their parents' income or circumstances, can benefit from it.
Every child deserves to have the best possible start to their education and we know it is children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds who benefit most from such provision - it's for precisely these reasons that we made the entitlement universal.
I know that some nursery managers are concerned that the changes we have already made and the extension to the free entitlement will affect their sustainability. However, some of these concerns are based on misconceptions and misrepresentations.
Recent media coverage has suggested that in delivering the entitlement, the Government is forcing providers to open for long hours, squeezing out private providers and denying parents choice. I want to take this opportunity to set the record straight.
Top-up fees
We have always been clear that parents should not be charged a penny for the entitlement. The entitlement is a guarantee of a free place. It is funded by local authorities directly to providers. As such, it promotes real choice for parents about the type of provision that best meets the needs of their children.
Charging a top-up for the free entitlement would create a financial barrier to some parents and runs the risk of creating a two-tier system in which some nurseries that receive funding for the free entitlement would be beyond the means of more disadvantaged parents.
That's why the funding is not a subsidy and why the entitlement must be free to all parents equally. That is also why providers cannot make the purchase of extra hours a condition of the free entitlement.
However, if parents choose to, they are, of course, free to purchase additional hours, and the cost of these will be agreed privately between parent and provider. I want local authorities to now work with providers to deliver the sustainable and diverse provision that responds to parents'
needs.
The entitlement was extended to 38 weeks from April this year. This was done so that parents choosing to use early years providers in the private, voluntary and independent sectors would have access to the same free entitlement as those choosing maintained settings.
Provider partnerships
We have provided an extra 82m to fund this extension, on top of the 3bn already going into the free entitlement. It is not correct that the responsibility to provide 38 weeks falls upon every individual provider. Local authorities have a responsibility to secure provision through partnerships between providers. Parents can choose providers who offer fewer than 38 weeks, if they so wish.
It is also the case that, by 2010, I want the free entitlement to be extended to 15 hours a week and for parents to be able to use it over a minimum of three days, to give parents more flexibility for work and training. However, I appreciate this will make considerable demands on some providers, which is why we will proceed carefully and very gradually.
From April next year, 20 pathfinder authorities will test out the best ways to move towards the 15 hours while protecting provider sustainability and meeting parent demand. We will then phase in the new entitlement gradually between 2007 and 2010.
Flexibility
It's important to remember that before 1997 there was virtually no support from the Government for childcare. No one wants to return to that situation, least of all parents. The free entitlement is an essential part of our wider package of measures to support high-quality early learning and care for children and to meet the needs of today's parents for flexible childcare. Flexible working patterns are commonplace today, and our childcare provision should be able to respond to parents' needs.
Nevertheless, I recognise the concerns and I understand that change is demanding. However, I also believe that by working together we can create and sustain a flexible, safe and nurturing learning environment for every child.