Nursery places for under-twos scarce despite fees increasing

ONLY half of councils in England have enough nursery places for under-twos despite fees increasing, figures have revealed.

The children’s charity, Coram, released its annual Childcare Survey today showing a sharp drop in childcare availability across England, with only half of local areas reporting sufficient provision for children under two.

The data show that in 2022, 57per cent of councils said that they had a sufficient number of childcare places for children under two. However, by 2023, this fell to just 50per cent. And fewer than half of local authorities reported they had enough childcare for parents working full-time in 2023, a decrease of 11per cent on last year.

The declining number of places comes at a time when nursery and daycare fees continue to rise. The charity’s researchers found that a part-time place at nursery (25 hours a week) for a child under two now costs an average of £148.63 per week, an annual increase of 5.6 per cent.

Jeremy Hunt will unveil his Spring Budget next week and is facing calls to offer more support for working parents. Robin Walker, Conservative MP for Worcester and chairman of the Education select committee, said: “The childcare sector is intrinsically valuable because it has the potential to allow millions of parents to continue with their careers.”

The Local Government Association was contacted for comment.