Mayor unveils 10,000 new childcare places

More than 10,000 new free childcare places for London were unveiled by Ken Livingstone today in the first concrete stage of the Government's boost for families.

The places will be made possible from next April with a joint funding package from the London Development Agency (LDA) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The 10-year strategy, announced alongside the pre-Budget report, includes specific plans to tackle London's high costs.

The "childcare affordability programme" announced today will be targeted in London's poorest areas to enable parents on low incomes to stay in jobs or return to them. London has the highest rates of child poverty in the country, with 38 per cent of all children living in poverty.

In inner London, comparable in population size to Wales or the North-East of England, this rises to 54 per cent.

The Mayor launched the Final London Childcare Strategy last November. The LDA has already committed over ?3million in investment for childcare in 2003 to 2005, mainly focused on gap-funding for neighbourhood nurseries.

Mr Livingstone said: "The 10-year strategy is a major step forward ... This will make a real difference to thousands of families across London.

" Today's announcement demonstrates the commitment of all sides to tackling the problem of childcare affordability in London." The Minister for Children, Margaret Hodge, added: " Government recognises that is vitally important that parents in all parts of the country have access to good quality childcare. The DfES/LDA childcare affordability programme is a major contribution to achieving this aim."