Anne Longfield, chief executive of the charity 4Children, said that 'bold talk' from education secretary Charles Clarke, who said the Government's plans could be equated with the birth of the NHS, should lead to significant ongoing investment and a robust delivery mechanism.
There is a consensus among leading figures in the sector that the ten-year plan, out next month, must mark a radical change in the way Government funds early education and childcare, with a switch to supply-side funding made direct to providers.
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said payments to parents through either the childcare element of the working tax credit or the nursery education grant were too inflexible. At the top of her wish list was an end to the succession of Government initiatives colliding with each other, and 'a clear vision and a single centralised funding stream' with payments direct to providers to make delivery easier.
She added, 'We also need a clear strategy as to how we are going to balance the delivery between the private, voluntary and maintained sectors.'
By the very nature of its scale and span in time, she said, the ten-year plan offered the scope for those working in the sector to influence its future shape.
She was heartened by the mood at the recent Labour Party conference where, she said, 'childcare was firmly on the map', with a commitment no longer limited to the Sure Start Unit and the DfES but stretching 'right across Government'.
Getting the funding right is 'absolutely crucial', according to Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust which, together with the Social Market Foundation, commissioned the recent costing of proposals for universal early education and care carried out by accountants PriceWaterhouse Coopers.
Mr Burke said the ten-year plan must 'address the difficult issues of how it will be financed and how it will be staffed, so that we have quality and affordable services for every family'.
Anne Longfield said the Government commitment to open schools from 8am to 6pm will cost 500m 'purely in start-up terms', while 10bn will need to be invested every year for ten years to meet demand.
She added, 'There has been lots of bold talk about this being a new frontier of the welfare state, about it being as important as when the NHS was set up. In that case, we need this investment to make it part of the infrastructure of the country.'
Gill Haynes, chief executive of the National Childminding Association (NCMA), said that despite Government plans to extend parental leave, she remained optimistic about the future role of childminding. 'Home-based childcare fits well with today's lifestyle because it offers more flexibility than centre-based care,' she said.
She predicted that by 2015, one in three childcare places would be with a registered childminder who would have a level 3 qualification. 'A well-supported, well-trained, properly regulated childminding sector is going to make a huge contribution.'
She said the NCMA wanted to see a childminding network attached to every children's centre, and she believed that children's minister Margaret Hodge wanted every childminder eventually to be linked to a network.
Ms Haynes added, 'What parents like about networks is that their childminder is part of a well-supported group, that they are regularly visited and get professional support.'
* See Special Report, p10