Q Can you give us any more information about the Government's nursery education pilot for 6,000 two-year-olds?
AWe got our comprehensive spending review settlement early, which was really welcome because I think what it means is that we probably have a more generous settlement in what is a very tight settlement period this time.
The headline figures are terrific - it's an over-17 per cent real terms increase, averaged over the three years of this settlement. It's terrific.
Real terms, not inflation.
What we've got to do is work out how to spend that money within the context of the priorities we've set, one of which is to establish 1,700 children's centres. Another is to try to develop wraparound care in schools for children, particularly around the three-and four-year-olds, which we're working on.
And then the other one stems from research evidence demonstrating that if you can provide integrated education support to children at two, particularly those living in deprived areas and who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, you can make a real difference. So, we want to start piloting that to see how that works and whether that gives us the better outcomes we're seeking for every child.
Q Where and how will this pilot scheme start?
AWe haven't talked through the details, but the logical thing will be to work on the infrastructure that we've got - and that's the Sure Start programme. Sure Start will metamorphose into children's centres, as will, I hope, all the Early Excellence Centres, nursery schools and, indeed, I hope we have a lot of children's centres built around primary schools as well, building around the development of the three-and four-year-old part-time education. But it makes sense to lock what we do to two-year-olds into that infrastructure in some way.
Q In Northern Ireland the Department for Education is to rethink its policy of having two-year-olds in school nursery classes if there were not enough three-year-olds to take up the places.
A Let me say to you that I think this is a misunderstanding of the intent.
What the prime minister said at the National Association of Head Teachers conference in May was that this is a new frontier for the welfare state. I think that was a pretty historic proclamation of the importance of the early years in a child's life, to ensuring that the child gets the best outcome. We need to now work out what that means in practice.
When we talk about the early years, we never mean a child starting traditional education early. We never mean that. I remember when we started the Foundation Stage there were a lot of concerns around professionals that we were trying to educate children at too young an age.
I think now that every time I go to any early years setting and I ask how they find the Foundation Stage, I find it universally supported. I've never found anybody who has criticised it to me as a structure and framework in which to develop all children's faculties, whether emotional, social, physical or cognitive.
We've now got a framework for birth to three, which again is not about Latin for two-year-olds or one-year-olds or babies. I regret we didn't get the training in place to match the launch, but we're now developing some cascading mechanisms for ensuring that people understand that framework.
The old distinction, about trying to say that education is one thing and care is another, will go. My determination in rolling back the frontiers of the welfare state to the early years is to develop a really integrated, coherent approach.
Q Will the Government consider re-ringfencing money for nursery education grants?
ANo, no, no. That has gone into the schools budget. Ringfencing is an effective way of targeting money in the early days of a new service, which is what we did around nursery education. But it has served its purpose, and we can now ensure the money is being properly spent by making it a duty of local educational authorities to deliver part-time nursery education and measuring the outcomes.
Q But some providers have said local authorities aren't passing on all the nursery education grant money.
A I'm looking at that as we speak. I've had letters from people about that and I am concerned that local authorities should ensure a level playing field, and we are just looking at what, if any, action we can take to put that right. It's not very widespread.
Q It would appear that when it comes to partnerships, some local authorities' idea of partnership is to exclude the private and voluntary sectors.
A I am absolutely clear that we want to maintain the diversity of providers. In fact, more than that, I am also clear that we want to involve voluntary and private providers going right the way through from nought to 19, and not just providing but also helping us plan and commission services. A lot of authorities are committed to that - I would say the bulk are.
When I was in the north-west, I visited a Sure Start school which had established a nursery school on site. So I asked, 'Why aren't you taking babies?' and was told there is a private provider 100 yards down the road; they do the babies and we work together. I then went into a creche facility on this site and this creche is run by a private provider as well. Sure Start had contracted that private provider. Now that sort of public-private partnership on the same site is what I'd like to see where it's appropriate, and meets local needs.
We are again thinking through, on the back of the Children Bill, what action we need to take in both regulations and guidance to ensure that there is a proper role for the private and voluntary sector right across the board. I think there are a lot of local authorities as committed as we are in Government to having a mixed choice for children and families.
At the National Day Nurseries Association conference there was quite a lot of concern expressed by nursery providers about the development of extended schools and children's centres in primary schools. The reason for emphasising schools as a base for these expanded services is that schools are an incredibly valuable but often under-used community resource. They go from 9am to 3.30pm, then close for the school holidays. I want to take advantage of that so we can make our money go further to provide many more services on that school site.
Having said we want to use the school as a base, I see absolutely no reason why a partnership arrangement can't take place with private and voluntary providers providing a whole range of the services we envisage in schools, including the early years services. I was in Northampton the other day at a couple of schools where all the wraparound care and all the early years services are provided by a private provider, who works in eight or nine schools in Northampton.
Q How can you raise the level of training and qualifications and see the early years workforce receive higher salaries without making childcare unaffordable to parents?
A I think this is a very tough circle to square. What I am clear about is that we want to provide high-quality services, so the qualification levels of those who work with children and young people at a commensurate salary need to go up. We need to gradually raise the skills and qualifications, ensure that they are reflected in salaries, and ensure that the service remains affordable to the individual through the tax breaks system or through subsidy to the setting. We will get there because I'm absolutely determined that quality has to be at the heart of our endeavour.
Q Gill Haynes, chief executive of the National Childminding Association, has suggested that some families should receive a 100 per cent tax credit to help with their childcare costs, rather than the 70 per cent maximum at present.
A We're always looking to the Chancellor, who's very concerned about the tax credit system. I have some concerns about moving to 100 per cent because the temptation then would be for people just to raise the price, because if it comes under the tax credit then you might as well charge as high as you can get, so you just stalk the market to some extent.
And you can see that even at 70 per cent a lot of settings set their price on or around the tax credit levels of 135 per week - they know that's as high as the tax credit goes. So I don't think it's a straightforward answer. You might feel we're wasting a lot of money.
