Childcare Sector Warns Of "Postcode Lottery" For Availability Of Free Hours

Parents and carers could be faced with a “postcode lottery” when the government expands free childcare hours this year, a sector leader has warned.

From April this year, eligible working parents of two year olds will be able to claim 15 hours a week of free childcare, but there is growing concern that the sector will not consistently have the resource to provide the places. Centre-right think tank Onward, which has been instrumental in campaigning for improved availability of pre-school childcare in the UK, said the government “definitely could be doing more” to bring down the costs. 

The scheme is the first part of the expansion of childcare provision announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt at last year’s Budget, and will eventually extend so that children from 9 months old will get up to 30 hours a week of childcare from September 2025. 

Providers will therefore be faced with greater demand for places as the government’s free hours entitlement expands. But a workforce crisis and funding shortfalls are among the main issues that could inhibit the early years sector's ability to deliver on the policy, according to Purnima Tanuku, the chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association.

Tanuku told PoliticsHome that “any support for parents with the cost of childcare is always welcome” but that “any time politicians talk about expansion of existing childcare we always come out with a cautionary approach".

She added: "The system is not working at the moment and anything that we build on that is not going to work.” 

Research by Early Education and Childcare Coalition and the University of Leeds, published in November last year found that 57 per cent of nursery staff are considering quitting the sector within the next year, in