Quarterly figures published by Ofsted show that the number of registered providers fell by an average of 0.4 per cent between June and September 2004.
Childminding and pre-schools were particularly affected. The number of childminders dropped from 72,700 to 71,900 during that period.
But the National Childminding Association said that this was not part of a wider trend and predicted that the number of childminders would rise. Chief executive Gill Haynes said, 'Statistically, 800 out 72,000 is not significant, considering the natural turnover in the whole of the childcare workforce.
'We are not picking up any trends from any part of the country at large. We'd expect these figures to stabilise and grow in the light of the ten-year strategy, because childminding has been given such a central role in delivering the strategy.'
Ofsted's figures also showed a decline in sessional care among playgroups and nursery schools.
The Pre-School Learning Alliance said that this could be explained by the fact that its own statistics showed that the majority of new places being set up by PLA members during the June to September 2004 period were for all-day care rather than sessional care. The PLA said its expansion project figures suggested that for the period in question, 1,336 full-day places and 367 new sessional places were created.
PLA chief executive Steve Alexander said, 'We have no evidence to suggest that there is a trend developing in the decline in sessional groups or places, so we very much hope that this is a blip. The dip may be explained by more sessional groups moving into full daycare and thus having to re-register.'
According to Ofsted, the number of extended day pre-school groups and day nurseries rose by 3.5 per cent during the June to September period.
Out-of-school care is thriving, with the number of providers up from 9,400 in June to 9,700 in September, a 3.2 per cent rise.
