Early years organisations have called for urgent government action as Department for Education’s (DfE) annual early years provider survey highlights falling provider numbers.
The Department for Education's (DfE) annual childcare and early years provider survey has revealed the number of early years providers has fallen by five per cent in a year.
The drop is mainly due to the decline in childminders – there are 3,200 fewer childminders this year compared to 2022.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, warned that if this trend continued, childminders would ‘eventually cease to exist’.
