BROWN'S BUDGET PROPOSALS

Families with children are being promised more help from the government. In his pre-Budget report, the Chancellor Gordon Brown outlined a 10-year child care strategy, including plans to extend maternity leave (some of which will be transferable from mothers to fathers) from six to nine months in 2007. Long-term, the aim is to increase the entitlement to unpaid leave to one year, bringing the maximum maternity pay and child benefit a mother could receive in the year after the birth of her first baby to Ј8,300. The Chancellor also announced plans to extend free nursery care for 3- and 4-year olds to 15 hours per week, and confirmed that funding will be available for schools tofrom 8am to 6pm. Not everyone is happy with the proposals, with concerns expressed about the burden of cost faced by small businesses in particular. But trade unions welcomed the extension of family-friendly policies.  

EXTRA SPORTS - CLUB2SCHOOL

The Conservative Party wants school children to receive an additional 2 hours of free sports coaching a week. Under a new Club2School scheme, sports clubs would be invited to provide the training, which would be paid for from the National Lottery's Big Lottery Fund. The Central Council of Physical Recreation, which represents the governing bodies of sports and recreation clubs throughout the country, welcomed the proposal which would mean a huge financial boost for local community sports clubs.