Free nursery education promised

Nursery Vouchers to be Scrapped From September

Free nursery education for all four year olds would be provided by local education authorities in partnership with private schools and voluntary nurseries.

The announcement means ministers are sweeping sweep away the last Government's controversial nursery scheme, which offered parents vouchers worth £1,100 to buy provision of their choice.

All change for four-year olds

Labour attacked the scheme in opposition, pointing to the £20 million spent on administration and charging that it did not create a single new nursery place.

"We are committed to providing high quality nursery places for all four-year-olds, where parents want one," said Mr Blunkett.

"We will achieve that goal by sensible joint planning at local level, not the bureaucratic nightmare of a wasteful and divisive nursery voucher scheme," he insisted.

"There will be no more destructive competition. It will be replaced by close co-operation between parents, providers, local education authorities and the private and voluntary sectors," added Mr Blunkett.

Estelle Morris, the Minister for Education

Morris: "planned provision"

Morris: Nursery places for four-year-olds by September '98

The news brought a mixed reaction from the Liberal Democrats. "Half a loaf is better than none," said their education and employment spokesman Don Foster MP.

"Scrapping nursery vouchers is welcome but an opportunity has been missed to expand nursery provision to three, as well as four-year-olds. Two years of nursery provision would be the best way of raising literacy and numeracy standards," he said.

"The abolition of the cumbersome, bureaucratic nursery voucher scheme could not come soon enough, and this is a step in the right direction," said Mr Foster.

"The Government's pragmatic approach of phasing the scheme's withdrawal is eminently sensible as is the agreement that the provision will be made through a partnership of the private, public and voluntary sectors, and be linked to childcare," he said.