ANALYSIS

Fewer funded places: Alliance survey analysis

Alliance research on the early entitlement expansion highlights that limited provider capacity may leave families unable to access early education support in their local area.

A recent study by the Early years Alliance identified that families with children under three may be unable to access government funded places at early years settings when the government extends the 30-hours offer.

The results of two surveys – one for providers and another for families – show that a high proportion of early years settings will be unable to provide the places needed to match increased demand, with many citing a lack of space or sufficient staff as key reasons.

Carried out online between 10 and 21 July 2023, the Alliance’s findings reflect a sector capacity at odds with families’ expectations of the expanded early entitlement offer. While 89% of eligible families expect to make use of the expanded support, just 61% are optimistic that availability will match their needs:

  • 42% of all early years providers surveyed already have a full waiting list for places.

  • 60% of providers planning to offer funded two-year-old places under the new offer and who anticipate a rise in demand are not planning to increase the number of places offered, with 72% stating the same for the extended one-year-old offer.

  • 59% of providers feel the sector has not been given enough time to fully prepare for the increased demand the early entitlement expansion.

Of the 96% of respondents who currently offer places to non-funded two-year-olds, a third (33%) said they are unsure as to whether they will deliver them via the government’s early entitlement scheme once extended, while one in five (20%) plan to offer a limited number of places under the expanded entitlement offer and charge privately for the rest.

Even with funding rate increases for local authorities from September, 48% of providers state that their rate would be less than the cost of delivering places for one- and two-year-olds, while 86% said their funding rates for three-and four-year-olds would be less than the cost.

As such, the money to meet these demands would have to be sourced from elsewhere, increasing the financial burden on families looking to access funded early years places. These could come in the form of fee increases (70%); introducing or increasing optional charges, such as those for trips, meals, or snacks (59%); reducing spending on equipment and resources (60%); and reducing staff training (27%), among other measures.

Early years providers

“There is a staffing crisis in the sector so there is no way that we will be able to increase spaces. It is doubtful we can honour the spaces we have already offered.”


“We are in a community centre, and it would cost too much to make alterations to the building in order to accommodate [the extended funded offer]. Also, even now we cannot recruit to meet our current needs.”


“We don’t have the capacity or resources either from a setting or staffing point to provide care for the under twos – as we can’t provide a separate area for sleeping and we have difficulty recruiting staff and under twos need more staffing.”


“Unless the government looks into the cost of providing funded places, raises the level of respect for early years professionals, especially childminders, and provides enough money to provide a place for every child that wants one, there won’t be enough providers, therefore places, to make the scheme work.

“If the government wants to follow through with its promises to parents, it needs to put its hand in its pocket and fund it properly. Telling parents that they can have all this to win votes and then not having any providers because their businesses have all gone under is not going to work.”

Parents/carers

“I am so excited for the new free hours to begin and my children to be old enough to qualify, but the scheme is massively flawed. It will never work if the government does not help nurseries financially in the meantime. You can’t offer all children aged nine months onwards funded hours without increasing the availability of childcare places. Nurseries are closing left right and centre. If this continues, the new scheme will become pointless”.


“My childminder said they will not be able to offer this as they are not paid enough so there is a shortfall, and they are not even able to charge the difference.”


“Our nursery has struggled with staffing in the last year. If there’s an influx of children because of the free hours I can’t see how they’ll be able to staff it, so I’m not sure if they’ll offer the free hours at all.”


“The nurseries around here are oversubscribed and under-resourced, so extra hours are difficult to access.”


“There is a shortage of nursery spaces already so I feel this will get worse. There is also shortage of nursery staff, so I am not sure where you can recruit and train staff by next year?”