It seems that the economy in the UK is recovering, but this recovery has been slower than expected and, of course, worries of a 'double-dip' remain. In addition, the effect of the recently announced public sector cuts has added a further layer of uncertainty.
It appears that the nursery sector has been quite robust when compared with the wider economy - total childcare places have remained relatively steady. However, on closer examination, the total number of nurseries has fallen. Recently-announced quarterly Ofsted figures show that there are 700-plus fewer nurseries when compared with the equivalent 2009 figures, while other published figures show that the number of nurseries has reduced by around 130 during the last quarter.
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