You are here: News Government childcare plans at real risk of failure from chronic childcare shortages

The quarter of local authorities failing to monitor childcare places in England are putting government childcare plans in significant jeopardy. Many of them also have a chronic shortage of childcare places that fail to meet existing needs of working parents.

A new report published today (Friday 26 June) by the Family and Childcare Trust - Access Denied names the 38 English local authorities that have failed to carry out and publish assessments of local childcare since 2012, despite being required to do so every year by law. They include Harrow, Bristol, Torbay and Tower Hamlets, all of which have high childcare costs due to lack of supply, and acute shortages of places for under-fives, after-school and holiday childcare.  

In contrast, Bolton, South Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire and Bracknell Forest show no significant childcare gaps or shortages, monitor local childcare places, and have action plans in place to make sure they meet the needs of families.

Stephen Dunmore, chief executive at the Family and Childcare Trust said: 

“These are worrying findings at a time when the Government is pushing through its ambitious and welcome plans to make childcare more affordable for parents. “Demand for extra hours of free childcare is likely to be high and we are concerned that a significant number of local authorities in England will not be able to meet this demand. “We are calling on central Government to hold local authorities to account if they fail to monitor and publish childcare data by making it a requirement in order to receive funding for the extended free childcare offer.”

The Family and Childcare Trust is also calling for the Department for Education to provide guidance to local authorities to help them monitor childcare effectively, and provide funding to help close the gaps.

Other research findings from analysis of local authority childcare assessments across England and Wales in 2014 show:

  • 49 local authorities had a shortage of places for two-year-olds who qualify for free early education
  • 32 local authorities had a shortage of places for three and four-year-olds who qualify for free early education
  • 46 local authorities had a shortage of after-school childcare
  • 39 local authorities had a shortage of holiday childcare

In 2015 only 43 per cent of local authorities in England, and 18 per cent in Wales have enough childcare to meet the needs of working parents, down from 46 per cent and 50 per cent respectively in 2012.

 

-Ends-

Contact: Mark Bou Mansour, Communications and Campaigns Manager. Telephone: 0207 940 7535, mobile: 07538 334 772, email: mark@familyandchildcaretrust.org.

Notes to Editor:

1. Further information about the worst local authorities for childcare sufficiency:

Harrow – No Childcare Sufficiency Assessment; only 32 under-fives places per 100 children, although parental employment is above London average; falling number of holiday childcare places; high childcare costs caused by lack of supply, and little evidence of effective market management.15 per cent of three year olds are missing out on free early education and only 53 per cent of eligible two year olds are receiving it.

Bristol – No Childcare Sufficiency Assessment; only 34 under-fives places per 100 children; very high childcare costs caused by lack of supply; a shortage of after-school and holiday childcare, and little evidence of effective market management.

Torbay – No Childcare Sufficiency Assessment; only 34 under-fives places per 100 children; very high childcare costs caused by lack of supply; a huge shortage of after-school and holiday childcare, and little effective market management.

Tower Hamlets – No Childcare Sufficiency Assessment; a huge shortage of places for two year olds qualifying for free early education; only 28 under-fives places per 100 children; very few childminders or PVI nurseries, and a shortage of after-school and holiday childcare.

2. This new report is published in the same week the Department for Education’s own statistics on childcare provision for under-fives in England. This will include uptake of free early education places for disadvantaged two-year-olds and all three and four-year-olds. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/provision-for-children-under-5-in-england-january-2015--2

3. Local authorities that have not published childcare sufficiency reports since 2012:

Bristol, Medway
Bromley, Newcastle upon Tyne
Central Bedfordshire, Portsmouth
Cheshire, East Reading
Cheshire, West Salford
City of London, Shropshire
Croydon, Solihull
Cumbria, Southend on Sea
East Riding, Southwark
Greenwich, Sutton
Harrow, Telford
Hull, Torbay
Isle of Wight, Tower Hamlets
Islington, Walsall
Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth
Leeds, Westminster
Leicestershire, Windsor and Maidenhead
Lewisham, Wirral
Manchester, Worcestershire

4. Earlier in 2015, the Family and Childcare Trust developed childcare information profiles for each constituency in Britain, which can be found at www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/constituency-profiles

Methodology

The Family and Childcare Trust drew on:

Data from 136 local authority childcare sufficiency assessments carried out between 2012 and 2015
Ofsted and Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales statistics
The Family and Childcare Trust’s own database, used to compile its annual childcare costs surveys

In the 38 English local authorities that have not undertaken childcare sufficiency audits since 2012, our analysis was based on Ofsted and Family and Childcare Trust data.

About the Family and Childcare Trust

The Family and Childcare Trust aims to make the UK a better place for families. We are a leading national family charity in the field of policy, research and advocacy on childcare and family issues, with over 40 years’ experience. Our on-the-ground work with parents and providers informs our research and campaigns. We focus on the early years and childcare because they are crucial to boosting children’s outcomes throughout life and supporting parents to work.