LETTER:Little choice on nursery vouchers

From Councillor Lord Tope

Sir: Edward Lister ("Choice begins in the nursery", 3 November) proves that the language of Wandsworth council is indeed unique. His vision of lots of happy parents shopping around with their nursery vouchers until they have found exactly the right nursery schools for their children is unlikely to be the result of the Government's latest experiment with our children's education.

The more likely outcome is that those parents who can afford the higher costs of private nursery provision will receive a subsidy for their fees, while less well-off parents will have to watch their local authority nurseries being closed as the Government withdraws funding from council budgets to pay for this scheme. Parents are also likely to find that their pounds 1,100 vouchers form only a contribution to higher nursery fees.

All but four local education authorities, including those run by Tories, are currently expressing choice - the choice to have nothing to do with this impractical scheme. They are choosing instead to continue providing what is really wanted by parents, high-quality, low-cost nursery provision for all.

Yours sincerely,

Graham Tope

Leader of Sutton Council

Sutton, Surrey

3 November

The writer is Liberal Democrat education spokesperson in the House of Lords.