Thousands of childcare places lost in the South West in the past year, new report warns

The scale of nursery closures in the South West is greater than anywhere else in the country – with 30,000 childcare places lost, a new report shows.

Between August 2022 to August 2023 the number of childcare places in every part of the region declined. Plymouth lost the biggest percentage of childcare places during this period – 6.2 per cent – 296 places.

A total of 376 places were lost in Devon, a 2.9 per cent decline and 355 in Cornwall, a 4 per cent decrease.

Just 4 places were lost in Torbay, but the area has already lost a substantial number of childcare places prior to August 2022 and has the fewest overall in the South West.

The report, by the South-West Social Mobility Commission, also outlines the underfunding, underappreciation and misunderstanding within the early years sector across the country and shows how these challenges are compounded in the South West by rurality and the scale of nursery closures.

It calls for the role of health visitors to be expanded and better supported to tackle widespread mental health, nutritional and literacy challenges in families.

It recommends health visitors should be able to promote parent-infant reading and trigger visits from mental health professionals, welfare rights support teams and others when they encounter issues like drug abuse, financial issues and domestic abuse problems, the research says.

It urges those in national and local government to give urgent attention to address the loss of childcare places, the crisis in recruitment and retention in both health visiting and early years provision, and the lack of resource and funding in local government.

To help make health visiting a universal gateway service local authorities should establish Early Action Groups, bringing together the public, private and voluntary sector. Local councils should have a Cabinet Member for Infants.

The report A Plan For Early Action: Opportunities for Change in Early Years Policy and Practice was produced by the South-West Social Mobility Commission, set up to bring about transformational change in education and employment outcomes for children and young people from under-resourced backgrounds. Chaired by Sir Michael Barber, it brings together a dedicated and passionate group of civic leaders from across the South-West peninsula to drive work to break down the barriers facing young people in the region.

Report lead author Dr Antony Mullen, from the University of Exeter, said: “We have identified a concerning decline in childcare places in the South West. We call upon local authorities in the region to work together to monitor this situation. This would allow them to report to Government and if needed to make the case for additional funding to expand provision within the sector. This will help to ensure new places are prioritised in areas where they are most needed, not simply where space allows.”

The report shows how take-up of the national Healthy Start scheme – aimed at providing nutrition to pregnant women and infants – is lower in the South West than any other region. Only 57.5% of families in the South West eligible were enrolled on it.

Fewer than half (46 per cent) of infants eligible for free school meals in the South West reached expected levels of development at age 5 – the lowest proportion in the country.

In the South-West peninsula, every local authority except Cornwall was below the England average for the number of “New Birth visits” delivered within 14 days.