On 1 September, the number of two-year-olds eligible for 15 hours of free childcare a week from a local provider will double from 130,000 to 260,000.
However an investigation by CYP Now has found that many authorities are not ready.
Of the 131 authorities that responded to a Freedom of Information request, 70 (53.44 per cent) said they will not have secured enough places to deliver the offer to all eligible children before next month’s deadline.
Together they report a shortfall of 34,854 places.
This means that only 185,000 of the 219,854 eligible two-year-olds across the 131 regions will have access to a free childcare place.
Extrapolated across all 152 local authorities, that data suggests that 218,782 two-year-olds will be offered a free place under the scheme, leaving a nationwide shortfall of 41,218.
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