The decision by Parliamentarians to establish a new All Party Parliamentary Group to promote best practice in nursery education is a very positive one. There have been many promises made by this Government about childcare which have focused almost exclusively on the need to provide parents with the option to work. However there has been no attention paid to the important role that Nursery Schools and PreSchools play in educating young children in preparation for their arrival in Schools. The membership of this group of MPs is yet to be identified, but it is vital that they include MPs who have some experience of education, and that all of them are prepared to do more than sit in Parliament and discuss this subject in isolation from the reality of running a Nursery and PreSchool. The founders of the group are 3 male Conservative MPs and one female Labour Peer. It is important that the group has a better gender balance too! According to OFSTED who do visit such establishments on a regular basis, the number of childcare places fell by 11,000 in the last year. This is primarily as a result of settings closing due to the limited funding available to run them, and the challenge in finding trained staff. It is clear that the APPG plans to engage with nurseries run by local Schools and local Councils, however they also need to ensure they engage with voluntary sector PreSchools which are often overlooked by policy makers and yet are often the first choice for parents.