Bridget Phillipson has said extra childcare places in new school-based nurseries in England will be available to families from next year.
The Education Secretary said the early years was her “first priority” as she accused the Conservatives of leaving behind a “threadbare” childcare system.
The expansion of funded childcare for working parents – which was introduced by the Conservative government – began being rolled out in England in April.
Working parents of all children older than nine months are now able to access 15 hours of funded childcare, before the full roll-out of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September 2025.
In its manifesto, Labour said it would open an additional 3,000 nurseries through “upgrading space” in primary schools, to deliver the extension of Government-funded hours families are entitled to.
Ms Phillipson told the Labour Party Conference: “Today I can tell you that change begins, delivery begins: those extra places start opening next year.
“The first phase of our new nurseries, of high-quality early education, boosting life chances for children and work choices for parents.”
From next month, schools will be invited to bid for a share of £15 million capital funding, with capacity in the programme to deliver up to 300 new or expanded nurseries in this first round.
Schools will need to demonstrate how their proposals will respond to local demand, and funding will be allocated to successful schools in spring 2025 to support delivery for the first cohort of places.
This is the first step to delivering the government’s ambition for 3,000 new nurseries in primary schools.
The Education Secretary told the conference in Liverpool: “Our mission to deliver opportunity for the next generation must start with our youngest children.
“So much in life depends on those crucial early years before school, when the gaps between rich and poor open up.
“It is my first priority. The life chances of our children, and the future of our country, demand nothing less.”
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust charity, said: “The Government’s plan to set up new nurseries in schools is an excellent one given the pressures on the early years system to deliver the expansion of funded hours.”
He added: “We now urgently need a plan to equalise entitlements for children from poorer backgrounds. These children stand to benefit most from early years education but are excluded from expanded provision.
“For a government saying it will break down barriers to opportunity, this is the wrong approach. Without action, we are likely to see disadvantaged children falling further behind their peers.”
During her speech, Ms Phillipson highlighted the Government’s plans to remove the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools from January.
She said: “In less than a hundred days we will end private schools’ tax breaks to drive high and rising standards for the nine in 10 children who go to our state schools.”
The Education Secretary added that the Government’s curriculum and assessment review has begun “a national conversation” to ensure that a rich and broad education is “not the privilege of the few”.
On Wednesday, education expert Professor Becky Francis – who is leading the independent review – launched a call for evidence.
The Department for Education said responses to the eight-week consultation will be pivotal to the recommendations that the panel puts forward next year.
On the plans to open more childcare plans in school-based nurseries next year, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “An early adopters scheme will certainly help schools that have already been considering setting up nursery provision to move ahead with their plans.
“Crucially, it should also help Government to learn more about what will be needed to make a future rollout of the policy a success.
“Key to that will be meaningful action to tackle the current workforce crisis the early years sector is facing.”
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said the announcement of 300 school-based nurseries from next year needs proper planning to avoid “unintended consequences”.
She said: “The early years sector is already struggling with a workforce crisis and underfunding of places for three and four-year-old children. Qualified early years practitioners have been leaving the profession over the last few years.
“Robust childcare sufficiency planning must be used to identify a need for more places in an area so nurseries are created where they are needed, not because a school has an empty classroom.
“Any new nursery must not threaten the sustainability of provision which already exists in that locality, nor displace staff from existing nurseries.”
