Nursery World - New figures show all-day vacancies

Around 6,600 full-day care places were left vacant in children's centres last year, according to the latest Government figures on early years and childcare provision.

Centres provided an estimated 37,750 full-day care places for 40,050 children in 2006, with about 12 vacancies per provider.

In the past three years the number of full-day providers has risen by more than a quarter, to 12,694. The number of early years providers in schools has hardly changed, while the number of full-day care places they offer has decreased by 6 per cent. The number of sessional childcare providers has continued to fall.

There has been a 'dramatic' increase in the number of out-of-school providers, rising by 70 per cent to 7,656. The number of registered childminders remained stable at 71,500.

The 2006 Childcare and Early Years Providers Surveys is the latest in a series on the different types of provision carried out for the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The surveys and a summary report are at www.dcsf.gov.uk/research.

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