Nursery World - Councils underspent £55m in early years funding which failed to reach providers

The majority of local authorities are not passing on money left over from Government funding to deliver childcare places
to providers, according to an analysis of responses to Freedom of Information requests.

More than £55 million of Government money to deliver funded childcare places was unspent by 106 local education authorities in 2020/21, and just 12 have passed on some or all of the money to providers, a Freedom of Information (FOI) investigation by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has revealed.

Eighty per cent of local education authorities (LEAs) in England underspent their early years budget, which includes money for funded places and the Early Years Pupil Premium, in the last financial year.

A total of 136 out of 149 LEAs in England responded to the FOI, but only responses from 131 could be included in NDNA’s analysis as five were unclear or required further detail.

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