Data obtained through a Freedom of Information request by shadow childcare minister Lucy Powell has found that 44 per cent of councils do not expect to have sufficient places when the second year of the government's free childcare scheme for two-year-olds begins.
The findings have led Labour to estimate that local authorities will be 60,000 places short of the 260,000 expected to be needed by the September deadline.
From September, the number of children eligible to receive 15 hours of free childcare a week from a local provider rated “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted will rise from 130,000 to 260,000.
The data obtained by Labour also shows that two-thirds of councils had failed to secure sufficient places for every disadvantaged two-year-old who became eligible for a free place in the first year of the scheme.
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