The total number of places offered by early years providers has also fallen by 1 per cent (11,529 places) to 1.29 million since 31 March 2015.
The number of providers delivering childcare on non-domestic premises on the Early Years Register fell from 25,741 to 25,065 - a loss of 676 providers and 12,011 places.
The number of childminders on the Early Years Register fell from 47,558 to 46,044 - a loss of 1,514 childminders overall, although places increased marginally by 55.
Overall, the number of registered early years providers fell from 73,492 to 71,312 (a loss of 2,180 providers), and the number of places fell from 1,299,713 to 1,288,184.
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