Early years bodies have questioned government assertions that the rollout of the funded childcare expansion is going to plan and claim that latest data fails to show a complete picture of the reality on the ground.
The Department for Education has claimed 195,355 children are benefitting from the government-funded childcare expansion launched in April.
The expansion allows all eligible two-year-olds of working parents to access 15 hours of funded care per week, increasing to 30 hours per week for children aged nine months and above from September 2025.
The DfE said the expanded scheme has enabled "tens of thousands" of parents to return to work, with the rollout on track to meet demand for places for nine-month-olds this September.
