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By Shannon Pite

85% of codes issues for eligible two-year-olds under the expanded early entitlement offer have been validated, published by the Department for Education confirm.

According to the data, while 247,514 eligibility codes have been issued to families, 211,027 have been validated by early years providers.

Commenting, children and families minister David Johnston said: “Every hard-working parent deserves affordable access to high-quality childcare, and that’s exactly what this government is delivering. 

“As today’s figures show, 211,027 two-year-olds are already benefitting from the first stage of our huge expansion of childcare – giving parents a helping hand in their working lives, safe in the knowledge their children are well looked after by our brilliant early years workforce.

“With applications for working parents of children from 9 months old opening at the weekend, I’d urge all parents to check their eligibility for what's on offer via our Childcare Choices website.�

Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: "Today’s update on the early entitlement expansion rollout once again proves that it is impossible, and frankly misleading, to judge the success of a policy by headline figures alone. 

"While 85% of families may have been able to access a place for the child, what it doesn’t show is if places cover the days and sessions the child needs, whether it meets their needs, or if parents are facing steep fee increases for any unfunded hours alongside this. And, given that the sector continues to face severe capacity challenges we at the Alliance remain entirely unconvinced that this is the case. 

"What’s more, given that 40,000 educators and around 85,000 more places are needed for the remainder of the expansion it has never been more urgent for the government not just to recognise the scale of the challenge facing the sector but the need to work with providers to ensure they can sustainably meet demand in the long-term. Yet, ministers have instead chosen to ignore the reality of the situation facing providers and families and trot out figures which paint an entirely incomplete picture. 

"Let's be clear, the only way that the early entitlement expansion will come anywhere close to being a success if the government addresses the fundamental challenges facing the sector through a comprehensive workforce strategy and funding that reflects delivery costs in the long term. Anything less and even the government’s positive spin on the figures won’t be enough to hide the policy’s failure."