Only one day care place for every five children
The shortage of places for parents to leave their children while they work is worse in London than anywhere else in the country, according to figures released today.
Parents are struggling to find day care at any price - with just one place for every five pre-school children in inner London.
The picture is little better in outer boroughs, where three-quarters of under-fives are not catered for. In other parts of the country there are significantly more places.
The National Audit Office survey follows an Evening Standard investigation which showed the average cost of childcare in London was up to 70 per cent higher than the UK average. But even fees of £880 a month are academic for many parents who simply cannot find a place to leave their child.
"London is the worst area in the country," said a spokesman for the NAO, England's public spending watchdog. "In inner London there are only 22 childcare places for every 100 pre-school children - that's places for only one in five. And in outer London there are only 25 places per 100 children."
That compares with 44 places per 100 children in the South-East, and 37 in the South-West. The situation is worse in London because property and staff costs are so much higher than in the rest of the country.
"Many families still face a childcare lottery," said Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust. "The availability of childcare services depends on where families live and on their income."
Today's report also found that the Government has wasted some of the £14billion it has invested in childcare by creating places that are not viable and later close.
Fewer than half of childminders, playgroups and day nurseries cover their costs, and many do not know how many places they must fill to break even. Only 50 per cent know what they are going to do when their start-up funding runs out, the survey found.
Sandy Gordon, who compiled the report, said: "Lots of government-money has gone into what are effectively small businesses. They obviously have difficulty understanding how to run themselves as businesses." He called for more training to be offered.
The Government announced that 626,000 new childcare places had been created in England between 1999 and 2003, but about 301,000 have closed. Of the new places, only 96,000 were for preschool children.
Although the Department for Education is aiming for further growth, the NAO found few childminders or nurseries were planning to expand. They said high costs and lack of space and staff, were the main barriers.
