No-one likes anomalies; not politicians whose policies inadvertently produce them, nor members of the public who are angered when an irregularity puts them at a disadvantage for no sustainable reason. Sometimes it takes a change of administration to see an inherited anomaly for what it is: a deviation to be corrected. As The Herald reveals this morning, the Scottish Executive will today level a playing field that has operated against some parents in the provision of nursery schooling. The SNP minority administration is to invest £15m in ensuring that parents who want it have access to 38 weeks a year of free nursery education, of 12.5 hours a week, for their three and four-year-olds.

No-one likes anomalies; not politicians whose policies inadvertently produce them, nor members of the public who are angered when an irregularity puts them at a disadvantage for no sustainable reason. Sometimes it takes a change of administration to see an inherited anomaly for what it is: a deviation to be corrected. As The Herald reveals this morning, the Scottish Executive will today level a playing field that has operated against some parents in the provision of nursery schooling. The SNP minority administration is to invest £15m in ensuring that parents who want it have access to 38 weeks a year of free nursery education, of 12.5 hours a week, for their three and four-year-olds.

At present, the entitlement is for 33 weeks, topped up to 38 weeks for toddlers in council nurseries at a cost to those local authorities willing to make the investment. The initiative means that those providing the extended period will no longer have to foot that bill. It will also benefit parents, predominantly from the middle classes, who, in many cases, must pay for the extra five weeks if their children are in private nurseries.

This, then, is a win-win situation for councils and parents. The initiative is to be welcomed as it means there will be universal provision of free nursery places across Scotland. But there is so much more still to do in early-education policy as, to be fair, the SNP recognises. The executive has a goal of delivering a 50% increase in free pre-school education for three and four-year olds, and creating a common landscape should make hitting the target easier. Significant as the dividends to be reaped from nursery education are, the policy must not stop there. The executive's intentions will become clearer today when Adam Ingram, Minister for Children and Early years, will announce plans for a decade-long early-years strategy.

Such initiatives, if developed properly, do not come cheap. But the rewards can be startling. Each pound invested in learning and developing social skills for toddlers, especially those from disadvantaged areas, can save the state £7 as the risk of offending is reduced and the chances of the beneficiaries leading a productive, fulfilling life are enhanced. Such investment has the potential finally to eradicate child poverty, in tandem with other measures. This can only be good for equity and social cohesion. There is evidence for the SNP to draw on for its strategy; for instance, a two-year pilot scheme, half-way to completion, to provide nursery places targeted at two-year-olds from families in need of extra support.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise has published work which shows how investing in children from birth, especially those from deprived backgrounds, enhances life chances. What is required is a robust, joined-up early-years strategy that builds on the success of nursery provision for three and four-year-olds to reach those children who can benefit from intervention at the earliest opportunity. The challenge for ministers is to produce it.