After months of being on the back foot over the free childcare for two-year-olds policy, the Department for Education went on the offensive last month with the publication of figures showing London councils were largely to blame for the shortage of places being created under the scheme.
Despite the government pumping more than £1bn into funding the free entitlement for 570 hours of free childcare a year for the most disadvantaged two-year-olds since its introduction in September 2013, a CYP Now investigation in August 2014 found the scheme was 40,000 places short of the 260,000 target.
The government has maintained the fault lies with local authorities, and recent data released by the DfE suggests the area with the biggest shortfall is London.
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