04 April 2006

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly and Minister for Children Beverley Hughes today marked the opening of more than 800 Sure Start Children’s Centres by meeting parents and children at the First Place Children’s Centre in South London.

More than 650,000 children now have access to a Sure Start Children’s Centre and the full range of support, information and services which they provide. They are at the heart of this Government’s determination to wipe out child poverty and by 2010 there will be one for every community.

The visit comes on the same day that the Government publishes its Action Plan for the Ten Year Childcare Strategy. The plan sets out how we will deliver on the commitments we have made to transform the range of childcare, early years and extended schools services available to parents.

Ruth Kelly will highlight the next steps in implementing the strategy, including pathfinders to test how we can give parents greater flexibility in using the entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds:

• From this month the weekly free entitlement of 12.5 hours early education and childcare for 3 and 4 year-olds will be extended from 33 weeks of the year to 38 weeks. This will bring what’s available into line with the school term - a real help for parents with older children who are already at school.

• From 2007 we will be testing ways for parents to use their increased entitlement of 15 hours a week more flexibly. By 2010, all 3 and 4 year olds will be entitled to 15 hours free provision rather than the current 12.5 hours.

• From September this year 2,500 schools will be providing morning and early evening access to childcare and a range of extended activities for children, young people, their families and local communities

• We are starting pilots of free provision for two-year-olds in a number of local authorities – targeted towards helping 12,000 disadvantaged children.

Speaking at the 4 Children event ‘Sure Start, Extended Schools and Childcare: Making it happen’, Mrs Kelly will say:

“Before 1997 too many families were confronted by a simple lack of childcare and where places could be found costs were often prohibitively high. Since then we have invested more than £17billion, there are 90% more childcare places and Ofsted tell us that standards are improving year on year. Just last week the 800th Sure Start Children’s Centre opened which means the benefits of Sure Start will today be available to over 650,000 children.

“Parents themselves are best placed to make difficult decisions about how best to combine work with family life. Government’s role must be to provide parents with choice and ensure that all children have access to affordable and high quality childcare. We know that high quality early care and education provision boosts children’s later achievement.

“I am proud of what we have achieved so far and I know it was the right decision to prioritise the earliest years. We must now keep up the momentum. Too many parents struggle to pay for childcare and too many find that provision available does not reflect their needs. The plan that we have published today confirms our commitment to increase provision and improve flexibility and I hope that it will focus everyone on moving forwards.”

Anne Longfield, Director of 4 Children will say:

“This is an important milestone in the development of new support for children and families in the UK. Sure Start Children's Centres offer children the best opportunities to learn, develop and flourish and provide parents with the support they need to work or train. Many thousands of children are now benefiting as a result which will have a direct impact on their future life chances.

“The challenge now is for all local authorities and partners to develop joined up support for children and families in every community - from the early years through to teenagers. The Action Plan published today provides a positive framework for making that happen that has the potential to improve opportunities for generations to come.”

The Action Plan also sets out:

• A framework for local authorities to meet their duties under the Childcare Bill which will come in to force from 2008

• Latest thinking on consultation on the Early Years Foundation Stage and how the Department can support local authorities and providers in implementing it

• The creation of a new Stakeholder Forum to be chaired by Dame Julie Mellor, previously Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission that will feed back from the front-line and act as a sounding board for Government

• How Directors for Children and Learners and their regional teams can help local networks with early delivery and effective sharing of good practice

• How we will negotiate and agree targets with local authorities and ensure that these are integrated with wider arrangements for supporting and challenging local performance

• The performance indicators currently being considered for Children’s Centres, the process that will support this and a future consultation on establishing a network of Children’s Centre Improvement Partners