Councils fall short in provision of childcare places for two-year-olds

More than half of local authorities in England will not have enough places to provide disadvantaged two-year-olds with free childcare when the government's flagship scheme expands next month, CYP Now can reveal.

At present, 130,000 of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week under the initiative, which took effect last September.

From 1 September this year, the scheme will double to apply to 260,000 two-year-olds, which are the 40 per cent most disadvantaged, backed by £755m in government funding. But an investigation by CYP Now has found that the majority of councils are not ready.

Of the 131 authorities that responded to a Freedom of Information request, 70 (53.44 per cent) revealed they will not have enough places to deliver the offer to all eligible children in their area when the scheme expands. In total, there is a shortfall of 34,854 places, which means that only 185,000 of the 219,854 eligible two-year-olds across 131 authorities will have access to a free childcare place under the scheme. Extrapolated across all 152 English authorities, the data suggests that there will be 218,782 childcare places available nationally - 41,218 places short of the target. The largest shortfall is reported by Essex County Council, which has secured only 2,795 of the 5,318 places required. Lancashire reports a shortfall of 2,300 and a further six authorities - Bradford, Kent, Leeds, Sandwell, Sheffield, and Tower Hamlets - report a shortfall in excess of 1,000 places.