There are only three months to go before around 130,000 two-year-olds stand to benefit from early learning. Already, more than 50,000 two-year-olds are undertaking early learning each week. That is a testament to the dedication and commitment of councils, and to the enthusiasm of providers across the country.
In many ways, this achievement exemplifies the role that I see for councils in early education. As champions of disadvantaged children, councils are ensuring that they are getting access to a high quality early education.
The presence or absence of a world-class early education can have a profound impact on a person's life chances. Despite all the good progress that has been made in the last few years, a third of children still fail to achieve a good level of development by the age of five.
There are too many regional variations in the quality of early years provision. In some local authorities 80 per cent of early years providers were judged 'outstanding' or 'good' at their last inspection. But in other areas it was less than 60 per cent. I want to make sure that we have universal standards that are common across the country. The good news is that early learning for two-year-olds helps to give children the best start in life whatever their background. The new funding for early learning for two-year-olds is an opportunity for us all.
WORKING TOGETHER
Councils and their local partners - whether it is a family information service or a Sure Start Children's Centre - have a vital role to play in ensuring that all eligible parents understand what their child is entitled to, and get the support they need to access their child's place.
Early learning for two-year-olds is an opportunity to bring services together. I want to make sure that services are fully integrated to achieve better outcomes for children and families.
While many children's centres do not provide early education and childcare directly, they have an important role in helping to support families' emotional resilience by providing services for child development, parenting, and raising family aspirations. Supporting families to access early learning for two-year-olds is a key part of that role.
We are strengthening the inspection regime. Ofsted's recruitment of more HMIs dedicated to the early years will improve both rigour and confidence.
Councils have a very important role to play in attracting high quality providers to their areas. Ofsted has a new regional structure which means it will be easier for it to work with local authorities.
Late last year we provided clarity for the first time when we published how much we would give to councils to implement early learning for two-year-olds.
The average hourly rate is £5.09. That compares well with the £4.26 hourly rate charged by nurseries reported in the Daycare Trust's 2013 annual childcare costs survey.
SPECIALISTS IN EARLY YEARS
There are almost 12,000 early years professionals who have been trained to deliver high quality early education and care for pre-school children.
From September we are building on this with the new training programme for Early Years Teachers. They will be specialists in early childhood development and care for children under the age of five.
Their work will be complemented by apprenticeships for the early years, which is a forerunner of the Early Years Educator programme. We will spend £2 million on the apprenticeship bursary scheme, providing up to 1,000 opportunities for those who aspire to a fulfilling career in early education. I really hope that lots of nurseries will participate in this scheme, to attract even more talented young people in to this important job.