2020 vision

The price of universal childcare provision will be well worth paying if it leads to greater parental choice and better training for the workforce, argues Vidhya Alakeson At the Labour Party's annual conference at the end of September, both the prime minister and the chancellor put early years at the centre of the Government's agenda for a third term. A promise from Gordon Brown on day one to extend paid parental leave to 12 months was followed by Tony Blair's pledge to create 'universal, affordable and flexible childcare for the parents of all three-to 14-year-olds who want it'.