The Childcare Act 2006 introduced two new registers, which will be operated by Ofsted: the Early Years Register (EYR) and the Ofsted Childcare Register (OCR). From September 2008 three yearly inspections from Ofsted became compulsory across all early years and childcare providers. According to Ofsted the iinspection will “provide an impartial, external evaluation of provision – designed to help improve quality”. This conference brought together senior managers from local authorities, schools and childcare providers, providing childcare and early years education for the under eights, to learn how they can work together to ensure excellent provision in their area and contribute to reaching the targets set out in 2004’s the ten year strategy for child care. As well as updates and guidance from DCSF and Ofsted, best practice case studies from around the country were showcased.