CYP Now - Opinion: Childcare must embrace disabled children

There's an air of celebration in the childcare world. Having had time to digest the content of the Government's 10-year childcare strategy, many are celebrating the progress that's been made. At last there is a long-term commitment to achieving high-quality, affordable childcare for all. And there are almost daily reminders about childcare being a political priority. As Margaret Hodge likes to put it, "our time has come".

But now that childcare is finally getting the political and policy-making attention it deserves, the gap between rhetoric and reality seems greater than ever. It is becoming increasingly hard to associate the celebrations in Westminster with the realities for parents in Warrington, Winchester or Wigan. Despite all the efforts of recent years, good-quality childcare at a price that parents can afford is still in short supply. Try telling parents that the Government is on course to deliver universal, high-quality, affordable childcare in 10 years' time. It's not much use to them.

Nowhere is the gap between rhetoric and reality more gaping than in relation to children with disabilities. No surprise then that the most vociferous campaigners bending the ear of former Treasury Advisor Ed Balls at the Daycare Trust's annual lecture earlier this month were those speaking up for the needs of disabled children.

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