Eight-five per cent of parents were taking up the offer. But thefindings also suggested a need to promote the early years entitlementmore in deprived areas.
There was little evidence the pathfinder authorities assessed parentaldemand for the extended offer before implementing it, as few hadcompleted their childcare sufficiency assessments at the time of theroll-out in April 2007.
However, almost half of the providers in the survey had consultedparents themselves.
In all areas, the full 15 hours had to be taken over a minimum of threedays, except in York, which allowed two days in 'special cases'.
Fifty-eight per cent of parents used the free offer over five days and23 per cent over three days.
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