Councils accused of jeopardising government childcare plans

A report by the Family and Childcare Trust found that around one in four of all councils - 38 in total - have not carried out and published assessments of local childcare, despite being required by law to do so.

Authorities failing to conduct assessments include Bristol, Cumbria and the London boroughs of Islington and Tower Hamlets.

The trust is concerned that areas that do not monitor places can experience a lack of supply, and acute shortages of places for under-fives, after-school and holiday childcare.

Stephen Dunmore, chief executive at the Family and Childcare Trust, said the findings were "worrying".

"Demand for extra hours of free childcare is likely to be high and we are concerned that a significant number of local authorities in England will not be able to meet this demand," he said.

"We are calling on central government to hold local authorities to account if they fail to monitor and publish childcare data by making it a requirement in order to receive funding for the extended free childcare offer."

The report, called Access Denied, also found that only 43 per cent of local authorities in England had enough childcare to meet the needs of working parents in 2015, and that childcare shortages are "almost always worse in deprived areas".