Childcare leaders question DfE claims of successful rollout of expanded entitlement

The Department for Education has claimed 195,355 children are benefitting from the government-funded childcare expansion launched in April.

The expansion allows all eligible two-year-olds of working parents to access 15 hours of funded care per week, increasing to 30 hours per week for children aged nine months and above from September 2025.

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The DfE said the expanded scheme has enabled "tens of thousands" of parents to return to work, with the rollout on track to meet demand for places for nine-month-olds  this September.

However, early years organisations have raised concerns over the reliability of government data surrounding the success of the scheme.

Early Years Alliance chief executive, Neil Leitch, said: “England's early years sector continues to face severe capacity challenges. So while these statistics may show the number of places that have been granted, what they don't reveal is whether families have been able to access all the days and sessions they need: a parent who has been given one day a week at their local setting – but needs five – may technically have a funded place, but not one that meets their needs.

“What's more, it's not clear from these figures how many two-year-old places are newly-created places, rather than existing places where parents have switched from paying privately to accessing government funding.

"With government admitting not only that 40,000 additional educators are required by September 2025 but also 85,000 new places, it's clear that, regardless of the positive spin government is trying to put on the current situation, the challenge facing the sector is an immense one.”

Jonathan Broadbery, director of policy and communications at National Day Nurseries Association, said: “Our members are telling us that many nurseries have waiting lists for under threes. Nurseries are working hard to deliver the existing offer, but creating additional places for under twos can be very challenging.

“There is still a lot of work for the government to do to fully support the sector to achieve its ambitious plans. They must improve funding rates for three- and four-year-olds which is having a negative impact on sustainability for 83% of nurseries, offer sufficient capital grant support and boost the early years workforce urgently.”

June O’Sullivan, chief executive of the London Early Years Foundation, said: “The funding and provision must be adequate to ensure poorer children from disadvantaged backgrounds can access nurseries which provide high-quality care and education and that staff are paid fair salaries. The recruitment of talented early years staff is critical in helping meet the increase in demand for childcare, especially as we head towards September whereby the government funded childcare will be extended to all children from the age of nine months. If there's a steep shortage of staff there will inevitably be a shortage of places and this is bad news for children, parents and the economy.”

The DfE said that 40,000 additional staff and 170,000 places are required by September 2025 to deliver the fully expanded offer.