Local authorities do not believe there will be enough childcare spaces to meet the expansion of funded hours, according to research.

Research carried out by Coram Family and Childcare found that just 27% of local authorities are confident there will be enough places to meet demand when 15 funded hours are rolled out to children from the age of nine months in September 2024.

Only 12% said they were confident there would be enough places to meet demand in September 2025, when all children from the age of nine months will be entitled to 30 hours of funded childcare.

However, 60% of local authorities are confident that there will be enough places to meet demand for the roll out of 15 funded hours for two-year-olds in April 2024.

Councils said the main obstacle to successful delivery of the 30 hours of funded childcare in 2025 was staff recruitment and retention, with 88% identifying the “local childcare workforce” as a barrier.

More than half of councils (58%)  said lack of space for childcare providers to set up or expand was a barrier.

Local authorities also highlighted provision for children with special educational needs as a major concern, with 64% identifying “sufficiency of childcare places for children with SEND” and 55% “funding to support children with SEND” as barriers to delivery.  Around 34% of councils predicted fewer places will be available for children with SEND when the extended funding rolls out.

Almost three in ten councils (28%) thought there would be fewer places available for funded three- and four-year-olds when the extended funding rolled out, and 45% predicted fewer places for disadvantaged two-year-olds.

Ellen Broomé, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said: “These issues – including the challenges around recruitment and retention, and funding rates – need to be addressed urgently, and childcare providers fully supported to manage this extension, so that every child is able to access the high quality early years education they are entitled to, and all parents can make meaningful choices about work and care.” 

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said: “These reports show what we have feared and been warning of – that childcare providers won’t be able to deliver enough places for all children.”

She added: “The issue becomes even worse for children with special educational needs and disabilities who will most benefit from early intervention. This is because many nurseries do not feel they can fully meet their needs and because funding is so difficult to access locally. Some children need one-to-one care but the current early years staffing crisis adds to the pressure on nurseries. Their staff need to be adequately trained and qualified to support these children. We know that many nurseries end up funding and supporting children with additional needs from their own pockets especially while they are waiting for funding and resources to be put in place.”

 Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “The fact that so many local authorities are worried about being able to secure and adequately fund places for children with SEND is a truly shameful state of affairs. Unless the government finally acknowledges the reality of the current situation – that early years settings simply do not have the places needed to meet current, let alone future, demand – things will only get worse.”