News
Children’s centres will no longer have to provide full-time childcare
18 Nov 2010
At the Daycare Trust’s annual conference Sarah Teather, Minister of State for Children and Families, announced that children’s centres in deprived areas would no longer be required to offer childcare. She also said that the Children’s Workforce Development Council will lose its status and funding.
The speech, on 16 November 2010, included several announcements, the first of which was that the Government intends to enact legislation to ensure 15 hours of free childcare for the most disadvantaged becomes an actuality by 2013.
MP Sarah Teather went on to announce that children’s centres in the most deprived areas would no longer be required to offer full-time childcare services. This will allow centres freedom to divert funds to where they are most required and to be more responsive to local need. She went on to say that, “we are still expecting centres to provide high-quality early education to meet local need. Some centres will want to go on providing full day care, but only if that demand is available locally, and I want them to be able to make that decision based on local need. We are expecting centres to tailor what they provide to their local area.” Children’s centres in the most deprived areas will also see the requirement to hire someone with both Qualified Teacher and Early Years Professional status removed to reduce bureaucracy.
Also announced was the fact that the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) will be absorbed back into the Department for Education. The Government will withdraw its investment in the CWDC and remove its status as a non-departmental public body.
The full speech and press release can be found on the Department for Education website.
