Yet their contribution to a crucial decade in children's lives is worth fighting for, says Simon Vevers, and some creative lifelines are available.
Out-of-school provision has long been regarded as the poor relation in the childcare family - often underfunded, inherently unstable due to the fluctuating numbers of parents taking it up and at the mercy of economic uncertainties which have seen clubs opening and closing with dizzying regularity.
The development of the extended schools programme - and the statutory requirement that wraparound childcare must be offered in or around schools - appeared to throw a lifeline to this sector. Many local authorities have heeded Government demands that they and schools should work closely with private and community providers - but some clearly have not.
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