Jackie Birchley, children's centre service adviser at Worcestershire County Council, said being forced to provide a core offer of childcare from 8am to 6pm was leaving some centres struggling to be viable. "All children's centres in the 30 per cent most deprived areas have to provide a core offer of childcare," she told delegates at CYP Now's sustainable children's centre conference in Birmingham last week.
Birchley continued: "It becomes a problem trying to shore up childcare settings that aren't sustainable on an 8am to 6pm model. A 9am to 4pm model might be more sustainable in some areas where demand for childcare is really low."
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