Charles Clarke

(Photograph) - Charles Clarke, Westminster's secretary for education and skills, met children and carers at the Pre-school Learning Alliance annual conference in London's Queen Elizabeth II conference centre last week. Mr Clarke gave the strongest indication yet that the Government has taken on board concerns about childcarers' salaries, telling delegates, 'There are a large number of people working in the sector at very low rates of pay, and that is a serious problem for the sector.' He acknowledged that it was important to increase pay and said he anticipated there would be 'much more dialogue between Government and employers'. However,...