With just months until the roll-out of the offer, 40 per cent of local authorities are concerned about there being enough places for April (15 hours for two-year-olds), while more than 70 per cent say the same about the expansion from September (15 free hours from nine months).
Only 12 per cent of local authorities said that they are ‘confident’ or ‘very confident’ there will be enough 30-hour places for all children from September 2025.
Local authorities identified the ‘significant’ ongoing challenges to recruit and retain staff as the biggest barrier to successful delivery of the expanded offer. Adequate provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) was also highlighted as a major concern.
It comes as Dingley’s Promise, the charity for children with SEND and their families, is encouraging parents and early years professionals to write to their MP so they can publicise the difficulties children with SEND have accessing funding and being able to take-up an early years place more widely
Coram’s report also reveals that local authorities are worried about how the roll-out of the 30 hours expansion will impact availability of the universal three and four-year-old and disadvantaged two-year-old places.
For three and four-year-olds, 35 per cent of local authorities expect that fewer families will be able to take up their place without any charge, and 34 per cent expect fewer places to be available for children with SEND.
Key findings from the report include:
- 60 per cent of local authorities are ‘confident’ or ‘very confident’ that there will be enough places to meet demand for the first phase of the expanded entitlement in April.
- 27 per cent of local authorities are ‘confident’ or ‘very confident’ about having enough places for the expansion of the 15-hour offer to children from nine months.
- Just 12 per cent are ‘confident’ or ‘very confident’ there will be sufficiency of places for the September 2025 expansion – 30 hours of funding for all children from eligible families.
'We are concerned there may be issues for families further down the line'.
Ellen Broomé, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said, ‘The coming months will be a crucial time in the sector as we prepare for the implementation of the Government’s welcome extension of childcare support.
‘While it is encouraging that three-fifths of local authorities feel confident about the roll-out in April, we are concerned there may be issues for families further down the line in accessing the childcare they need, as well as ongoing challenges in the sector that could impact the successful delivery of this extended support in the coming year. These issues need to be addressed urgently, and childcare providers fully supported to manage this extension.’
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said Coram’s report shows what it ‘feared and has been warning of -that childcare providers won’t be able to deliver enough places for all children’.
Similarly, the Early Years Alliance said the findings came as ‘no surprise’, and that ‘years of neglect have left the sector in tatters’.