Editorial: The dangers of councils going it alone

The Bill firmly favours a mixed economy of childcare provision and, infact, clause eight stipulates that councils may not develop their ownchildcare facilities alone unless there are no other "appropriate"organisations to do so. Yet fears remain that such partnershiparrangements are being overlooked in the rush to develop centres.

For instance, the National Day Nurseries Association has just publishedresearch that reveals half of day nurseries say a children's centre isbeing created close to their premises. The research also shows that, inAugust this year, private and voluntary sector nurseries had an averagevacancy rate of 24 per cent, which equates to more than 125,000 nurseryplaces lying empty. This leads the association to conclude thatchildren's centres are in danger of duplicating childcare rather thanexpanding into communities that lack affordable provision.