The analysis blames a geographical mismatch between capacity and demand, while leaders in the sector have raised concerns about staffing, the provision of sleep areas for the youngest children, toilets that are too big and sinks that are too high for nursery-age children.
Headteachers have been invited to apply for up to £150,000 in the first round of funding, which will support up to 300 new or expanded nurseries in state primary schools, building to a final target of 3,000 nurseries.
The success of the policy is critical as the government is under pressure to create sufficient places to fulfil its promise of 30 hours of free childcare a week for eligible parents of children aged from nine months to three years from next September.
Esta historia es de la edición November 19, 2024 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición November 19, 2024 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Hybrid working Battle looms as big firms order staff back to their desks
The post-festive return to work in the dark days of January is never easy, but this new year is shaping up to be tougher than usual for British workers.
Will the government choose pragmatism or purism when it pulls the plug on fossil fuel cars?
The main timetable is set: no new petrol and diesel cars will be allowed to be sold in the UK after 2030, and sales of all new hybrids will be forbidden from 2035.
EU gas prices soar after Russia supplies cut
The wholesale price of gas has risen to its highest level in more than a year after Russian supplies stopped flowing to the rest of Europe via Ukraine.
UK factory output falls at fastest rate for 11 months
UK manufacturers have cut back output at the fastest rate in 11 months, compounding the gloomy picture for the British economy, according to a closely watched survey.
Mackintosh theatre profits dip despite income rising
The producer of hit West End shows including Hamilton, Mary Poppins and Les Misérables has reported a dip in profits as cost increases more than offset a rise in revenues.
'Drab December' for high street as number of shoppers declines
High streets and other shopping destinations experienced a \"drab December\", with an annual fall in the number of visitors, fuelling fears of disappointing sales in the most important month for retailers.
Living in a box: The claustrophobic 'coffin homes' that could survive city's housing reforms
Lai Shan Sze moves quickly, bounding up the grungy, dimly lit stairwell of the unit block in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district.
Manatees not native to Florida, say scientists, but came for the warmth
Manatees, long considered among Florida's most beloved and enchanting inhabitants, are not US natives at all, and only came to the Sunshine State for warm temperatures and clear blue waters like any other visitor, researchers have found.
Ágnes Keleti, world's oldest Olympic gold champion, dies aged 103
The world's oldest Olympic gold-medallist, the Hungarian gymnast Ágnes Keleti, who escaped the Holocaust with false identity papers and the Soviet Union's brutal clampdown on her home country by emigrating to Israel, has died aged 103.
Finnish arena shut by Russia sanctions to reopen in spring
Helsinki's main sports and entertainment arena is expected to reopen in the spring after a Russian sanctions drama left it out of action.
