The Latest Breaking News from Sure Start

"I'll be honest, I was in the office and I did a wee jump and a dance and the girls were laughing, I was all bizz"

The announcement that funding was being made available was made on Thursday.

The shadow education secretary is determined to put childcare reform at the heart of Labour’s policy – and stop Jeremy Hunt stealing her thunder

Letters: David Blunkett says the chancellor has distorted the truth about childcare in his budget statement, while Tony Roberts says the Tories have always misunderstood the importance of early years provision. Plus letters from Margaret Varley and Ursula Shone

Letters: Anne Johns bemoans the disappearance of au pairs, Anne Tyndale hopes for a return of Labour’s Sure Start programme, and Alice Schofield on affording childcare for twins

Pen Green nursery’s plight shows why Labour again needs the radicalism of Sure Start, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said it was time for a complete overhaul of the 'complex and confused' childcare system - and said 'bolting on' more hours would not fix it

Terri Loughman, 39, wants to share her story to provide hope to other women

We know longer sentences do more harm than good. Let’s focus our resources on threadbare public services instead, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee