Since coming to power in May 1997 the Government has introduced a number of initiatives, including nursery places for all four-year-olds and, by 2004, all three-year-olds in England, the National Childcare Strategy and the Sure Start programme for families with children aged under four in disadvantaged areas, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships, Neighbourhood Nurseries in disadvantaged areas, and Early Excellence Centres, as well as great expansion in out-of-school provision.
The chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, Rosemary Murphy, said the Government was putting its 'emphasis on what is expedient, rather than what is best for children' in the delivery of its National Childcare Strategy. She said, 'The Government needs to realise that "more" and "faster" are not always best when it comes to caring for the under-fives. Quality, registered care appropriate to the age of the child must come first. A quick-fix solution based on ill-thought-out school-based care arrangements is not what under-fives deserve.'
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