Elizabeth Truss, the education minister, is giving a speech this morning announcing plans to overhaul childcare rules. According to the new rules, nurseries and childminders in England are to be allowed to look after more children per adult in an attempt to cut childcare costs and boost standards.
Liz Truss has said that the ratio of children to child carers can be raised but only if the carers' qualifications meet new standards.
Ms Truss said this morning: "We regulate the wrong thing. Rather than focusing on quality we focused on quantity, and if you look at other...
Parents of toddlers turning two this April are being encouraged by the Deputy Prime Minister to check if they can get free childcare.
From this September, 15 hours of free childcare a week are being made available to around 130,000 two-year-olds from lower income backgrounds across England. The first of these eligible toddlers will have their second birthdays this month.
Local authority figures show that 9,900 children in the South West will be eligible this September.
