Brown to launch free childcare plan at Labour conference
The prime minister has expanded free childcare to two-year-olds
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Sunday, 21, Sep 2008 11:06
Gordon Brown has unveiled new childcare measures at Labour's annual conference which will make access to nurseries free for every two-year-old.
The £1 billion scheme is part of the government's plans to help improve social mobility and early education. Under present arrangements, parents with toddlers between the age of three and four receive up to 15 hours of free childcare.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph about the programme, Mr Brown said: "I think more choice for women and for families is one of the themes of the next stage of our policy reforms.
"What I want us to do is to create thousands more nursery places, not just for three and four-year-olds but also for two-year-olds.
"This is not a government that walks away but a government that's on the side of hard-working families, helping them to climb the ladder," he told the newspaper.
Analysts see the prime minister's performance at the conference as crucial in stemming a rebellion within the party against his leadership and important in boosting the party's approval ratings.
It comes as a poll published in the Sunday Times of 1,200 Labour party members with 53 per cent of respondents agreeing that the head of government was indecisive and dithering while only 34 per cent of those interviewed said he had an exciting vision for the country.