The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has said the free entitlement, to be increased from 12.5 to 15 hours a week by 2010, must be delivered flexibly and has said local authorities piloting the extension can decide how to go about this.
But Colin Davison, pathfinder project officer at Peterborough City Council, one of the authorities chosen to pilot the extended free entitlement, has warned daycare settings in particular must be prepared to move away from a rigid, 8am to 6pm model.
A DCSF official told CYP Now: "Most local authorities fund 38 weeks for 12.5 hours a week but some recently lobbied the department that due to local demand they wanted to spread the entitlement over a different period. The DCSF is sympathetic to this."
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