Rishi Sunak’s plans to expand childcare provision in England are at risk of not living up to parents’ expectations as nursery costs surge and available places dwindle, a charity has warned.
The cost of 25 hours a week for a child under two has risen by 7% on 2023, with the most expensive area being inner London where the average cost is £218 a week, the latest annual survey of the Coram Family and Childcare charity found.
A total of 34% of English councils reported having sufficient childcare places – a decrease of 14 percentage points on the previous year – while 35% reported having enough spaces for children under two.
The survey also pointed to a drop in childcare places for children with disabilities, with 6% of councils reporting sufficient spaces, down 12 percentage points from 2023.
Provision was also found to have reduced for parents working atypical hours – down 7 percentage points – and for families in rural areas – down by 14 percentage points.
Under the prime minister’s flagship childcare expansion policy, starting from April, existing childcare support will be expanded in phases with a plan that by September 2025, most working families with children under the age of five will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare support.
Ellen Broome, managing director of Coram, said: “The new childcare support that is being rolled out from April has the potential to be a game-changer for parents up and down the country – many of whom have found themselves facing eye-watering childcare bills and sometimes even locked out of work because of childcare costs.
“Our findings – with higher costs and dramatic drops in availability of childcare places – are concerning at this crucial time, showing the scale of challenge and the very real risks around this policy not living up to parents’ expectations.
“Unless this policy is properly funded and supported, it could have the opposite effect, with families unable to access or afford the childcare they need and the most disadvantaged children set to miss out.”
The Coram report revealed councils’ concerns over the delivery of the expansion to free early education entitlements and the further impact on the availability of childcare places.
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About 63% of councils in England were said to be “confident” or “very confident” that there will be enough places to meet demand for the imminent expansion – 15 free hours for two-year-olds – but just 28% said the same about the expansion from September 2024 – 15 free hours from nine months old – and this fell to just 12% for the September 2025 expansion, which will be 30 free hours from nine months.
The vast majority of councils identified the local childcare workforce as a “barrier” to successful delivery of the 30 hours free entitlements in 2025, which Coram said reflects the significant challenges of recruiting and retaining staff.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are confident in the strength of our childcare market to deliver further expansion, with our funding rates for the new entitlements independently assessed by the IFS [Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank] as significantly above market rates, guaranteed further rises in funding for the next two years backed by an estimated £500m, our national recruitment campaign, and £1,000 cash incentive pilot to encourage new staff into the sector.
“Even before these interventions, early years places and staff had increased in 2023 compared with five years ago, while the number of children aged 0-5 has dropped year on year between 2018 and 2022.”
