A report, Early years: Progress in developing high quality childcare and early education accessible to all, published by the NAO last week, assessed improvements to the availability, affordability and quality of childcare in England since the launch of the national childcare strategy in 1998.
The report said that although 626,000 places had been created in England, 301,000 places had closed and there remains a huge variation in provision across the country. Most are out-of-school and holiday places, with 96,000 for pre-school children. There is a lack of availability in deprived areas and a lack of services for children with disabilities coupled with insufficient staff training.
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