Daycare Trust's annual survey of childcare fees reveals rises over the past year of well above inflation across the UK, with London costs for a nursery place for a child under two jumping a huge 17 per cent.
Rises in business rates and in the national minimum wage, along with recruitment shortages and the move of three- and four-year-olds into schools, have all played their part in forcing up fees, while the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit has not given substantial help to many families.
And the shortage of childcare places is still a major problem. The majority of Childcare Information Services surveyed said that there was a lack of quality, affordable childcare in their area. This is borne out by the figures of registered childcare provision released by Ofsted for the end of 2004. Numbers of childminders and pre-schools continue to fall, while the 74,000 rise in places during the year looks far short of what is needed, however many different ways it is counted.
