Decade-old childcare policy is affecting the quality of early years education for today’s young children, a report concludes.

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The Family and Childcare Trust’s Where Next for Childcare? urges the main political parties to make the development of a new childcare policy a priority ahead of the 2015 general election.The report claims that much of today’s childcare policy continues to be based on a 2004 strategy introduced under Tony Blair’s Labour government.

Although the Next Steps for Early Learning and Childcare report, published by the now defunct Department for Children, Schools and Families, was designed to be a 10-year strategy, the Family and Childcare Trust has claimed that the strategy is no longer fit for purpose and fails to address the needs of young children and their families a decade on.The report makes a series of recommendations based on the four broad aims of the 2004 strategy – choice and flexibility, availability, quality and affordability – in a bid to bring childcare policy up to date. Read full article…