Parents in England could miss out on funded hours at their preferred childcare setting in the spring if there is limited capacity, a minister has admitted.
David Johnston, minister for children, families and wellbeing, said the government cannot “compel” nurseries and childminders to offer children “free” hours in April when the first phase of its childcare expansion begins.
But he said the government is “strongly encouraging” settings to provide the new funded places as he argued that childcare providers have been given “considerable increases” in funding rates to be able to offer it.
Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England are being inundated with calls and emails from families who want to take up funded places.
More than 100,000 parents of two-year-olds in England have already registered for codes to access the new 15 hours per week of government-funded childcare which starts in April, but there have been concerns about its rollout due to staffing levels, increased demand and funding uncertainty.
Mr Johnston – who was speaking as the Department for Education (DfE) launched a recruitment campaign for early years staff – told the PA news agency: “I’m very confident that across the country we will have the number of places we need this coming April for the first 15 hours for two-year-olds.
“That may not mean that every parent can have their first choice of nursery because every nursery has a limited capacity.
“And of course there may well be providers who say that for whatever reason they don’t want to take children with the free hours that we’re paying for. We can’t compel them to do that.”
He added: “We’re working very hard with local authorities to make sure that we have the number of places available.”
