However, early years organisations also warn today that without more funding nurseries will be unable to extend their hours.
They say that they are propping up an under-funded system, which will be exacerbated by policies such as the introduction of the “national living wage”.
Figures from a survey by the Pre-school Learning Alliance and Ceeda, released exclusively by Nursery World on Monday, show that the NLW will create a funding gap of hundreds of millions of pounds, without a serious commitment from the Government to reforming the way free childcare places are funded.
The Government has however pledged to increase hourly funding rates and a consultation with the sector on the funding review closed earlier this month.
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