Editor's view

Practitioners from a range of childcare and early years education settings had an unprecedented chance last week to question children's minister Margaret Hodge about Government policy at a round table at the DfES organised by Nursery World (see News, page 4). Several themes emerged as the main concerns - training, sustainability, and how private, voluntary and maintained sectors can work together. Training, and the funding for it, was top of many people's minds, and Mrs Hodge was keen to stress that the transformation fund of £125m a year from 2006 would help to drive up qualifications and quality, particularly in...