Although councils have been brokering and delivering childcare services for many years, the drive to expand and improve provision has mainly come from Westminster. But if services are to meet the varying needs of children and parents in each community, local authorities need to be in the driving seat.
The 10-year childcare strategy, a plan that was largely developed behind closed doors in Whitehall, now needs to be owned and shaped by local authorities.
This will require something of a culture shift on both sides. While central government is no longer prepared to claim that "the man in Whitehall knows best", in practice it often seems to believe he does.
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