Responding to Labour's pledge to create 3,000 new school-based nurseries, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders' union NAHT, said: “There is certainly a clear logic in using free space in primary schools to expand nursery provision.

"It is positive to see that Labour have made clear that schools that wish to do this will be able to access the necessary funding.

"Having the right space is one part of the picture, and it will be equally important that there is a strong focus on attracting more people into the early years workforce.”