The influential parliamentary committee, which acknowledged that there had been 'good progress in increasing the supply of early education', said the DfES should not limit its programmes for deprived children to disadvantaged areas.
'There are pockets of deprivation in otherwise affluent areas and there is a danger that these people will be overlooked in a strategy focusing on the 20 per cent poorest wards,' said the committee's report, Early Years: progress in developing high quality childcare and early education accessible to all (www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/ pa/cm/cmpubacc.htm).
High living costs and shortages of suitable land and buildings, coupled with complex planning processes and the high costs of provision, have contributed to slower expansion in London, the report said.
Calling for a specific strategy for London, it stressed that school premises are 'an under-used resource' and were 'well-placed to meet unmet demand for childcare in deprived areas, particularly outside normal working hours'.
The report quoted figures produced by the DfES for 2002 showing that more than a quarter (26 per cent) of families with pre-school children were not able to access the provision they needed.
The committee said the DfES should set a minimum target number of places per 100 children, ensure that public funds were being used effectively, and examine whether there is a genuine choice for parents between returning to work and looking after a child at home, 'taking into account the research evidence on the benefits of parental care'.
Steve Alexander, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, welcomed the committee's recognition that 'the estimated shortfall of 180,000 childcare workers threatens the long-term sustainability of the expansion of affordable childcare'.
He added, 'The time has come to meet the workforce challenge by providing support for all routes to qualifications, improving investment in training and establishing an equitable pay and conditions structure to include all early years professionals.'
However, Professor Norman Glass, chief executive of the National Centre for Social Research and one of the instigators of the Sure Start programme, said the report did not place enough emphasis on developing a good-quality trained workforce.
'Unless that issue is put up front we are going to have a lot of dissatisfaction and disappointed expectations. The rate of expansion envisaged is completely out of kilter with any feasible rate expansion of skilled staff, both to manage and work with the children,' he said.
Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust, said the report had rightly identified the key factors as affordability and sustainability. 'As the Government prepares its ten-year plan for universal childcare, it is crucial that the long-term funding of childcare is addressed. Despite the large increase in the number of places, British parents still face a childcare lottery whereby access depends on where they live and their income,' he added.
Kate Green, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said that good-quality, affordable childcare was central to the fight against child poverty and called for continued steps towards a childcare service that was 'universally available, free at the point of delivery'.
More investment is essential to tackle the issues of affordability and sustainability, according to Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association. 'We cannot build up our childcare infrastructure to match that of other European countries if parents are expected to foot the lion's share of the bill,' she added.