Two surveys show that many settings will not be able to offer parents places for the extended entitlements, as the start of the roll-out of the expanded policy nears.
- Early years settings unable to meet demand for two-year-old places
- Many nurseries remain undecided over expanding offer
- Underfunding, recruitment issues and limits to space to blame
With the expanded offer for two-year-olds less than six weeks away, the Government’s promise of places for parents of younger children looks increasingly precarious.
A survey shared with Nursery World by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has found that more than half of private, voluntary and independent (PVI) nurseries are unlikely to, or don’t yet know whether they will, offer placesfor under-threes.
Meanwhile, the Early Years Alliance, which has carried out a similar provider survey of nurseries, pre-schools and childminders, ahead of the expansion of the funded 15 hours for two-year-olds in England, found that the majority of its respondents expect to struggle to meet demand for the offer.
