Labour pledges 'unprecedented spending' on early years

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner told delegates yesterday that investment in a new "Sure Start Plus" scheme would form part of Labour's early years policy, which includes free nursery education for all two- to four-year-olds.

The pledge follows research that austerity cuts have led to a significant drop in the number of children using Sure Start children's centres in the most deprived areas of England.

Rayner said: "Conference, Sure Start changed my life when my own son was born. 

"I joined a parenting class. No-one was more efficient than me at changing nappies, and having a proper bedtime. But no-one mentioned love. 

"This is what I learned at Sure Start.

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"We know the importance of bonding in the early years. Children who know they are loved go on to flourish.

"So we will deliver a renewed Sure Start programme, Sure Start Plus. The next Labour government can transform lives as the last transformed mine.

"Alongside it, we will introduce a new service: free nursery education for all two- to four-year-olds. Not childcare on the cheap, to get parents back to work. But an early education service, led by professionals, designed to develop the whole child."

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, cautiously welcomed the childcare proposals as representing an "unprecedented financial commitment to early education spending". 

Leitch said that the investment could "transform the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children and should be welcomed by anyone interested in social mobility".

He added: "And that will concern childcare providers, especially when thousands have closed in recent years, many as a direct result of governments overpromising ‘free' childcare in elections and underfunding in delivery.

"No more ‘childcare on the cheap' sounds like a promise to address that - but it's very light on detail and the early years funding shortfall stands at almost two thirds of a billion pounds.

"Broadly speaking, these proposals represent a move in the right direction but, without a firm commitment to ensure funding matches the true cost of delivery, the sector will struggle to take them seriously."

Earlier in the Brighton conference, Rayner also revealed plans to scrap Ofsted as the inspectorate of children's services, schools, further education and early years settings.