Equal Opportunities and Ethnicity in the Early Years: Implementing the Children Act

SUMMARY: This paper discusses findings from a research study on the implementation of the Children Act 1989, undertaken a year after the Act came into operation. It covers the three main functions of provider, coordinator, and regulator assigned to local authorities in respect of daycare and related services to children under-eight; focusing on the ways in which local authorities interpreted the Act in responding to issues of equal opportunities and ethnic diversity.