Any initiative that can raise the quality of childcare provision in areas of high deprivation is welcomed.
The fact that the DfE have recognised this as an issue is both positive in that they appear to be trying to address this, and negative in that it is saying that the capital funding for local authorities linked to the expansion of the two-year-old entitlement didn't achieve the outcomes intended i.e. to create sufficient high quality settings in areas of high deprivation where the greatest prevalence of eligible two-year-olds live.
From our experience across a number of local authorities, some did use that capital funding for its intended purpose, others however used it to ease the pressure on schools admissions by building extra classrooms.
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