A consultation on the Flying Start scheme, which targets the poorestchildren aged up to three years old, was launched last week. Thecentrepiece of the scheme is free childcare for two-year-olds. TheGovernment envisages spending more than 2,000 per year on eacheligible child with the scheme reaching about 16,000 children.
A "menu" of services will be offered to families in primary schoolcatchment areas with a high level of eligibility for free school mealsincluding childcare, extra health visitor services and parentingprogrammes. The consultation document advocates the development ofintegrated centres or using primary schools as a base for Flying Startpractitioners.
A Welsh Assembly Government spokeswoman confirmed that integratedcentres, similar to children's centres in England, were at the core ofthe vision and 5.5m has been earmarked for capital investment inthe centres. A total of 46m of funding for Flying Start from 2006to 2008 was due to be officially signed off today (7 December) when theWelsh Assembly agrees its budget.
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