The government’s expansion of its childcare scheme risks not living up to expectations – a charity is warning this week.

The availability of places, says Coram, has worsened with many nurseries and childminders already at capacity and councils not convinced provision can entirely meet demand.

Alongside that lack of provision – fees and costs are rising for parents and settings are struggling to recruit.

Unveiled to much fanfare last year, Rishi Sunak’s flagship policy pledged that by September 2025 most working families with children under five would be entitled to 30 hours of funded childcare a week.

But under pressure to drive growth, as the economy teetered on the brink of recession, and bolster a dwindling work force – the chancellor opted for a bold plan to address the UK’s beleaguered childcare sector.

While not necessarily bold for the wrong reasons – this wasn’t a policy borne out of a desire to improve a sector in crisis. It was about getting greater numbers of parents back to work.

And now – as April creeps closer and the first stages of the policy are due for roll-out, alarm bells are ringing more and more loudly.

The UK’s childcare costs are among some of the highest in the world – with parents seeing little change from £8,200 for a part-time place for a child under two.

And while the Chancellor set aside £4billion for its reforms– research from the Confederation of British Industry estimates the price tag at nearer £9billion for it to be a success.

Early years settings have long complained the money they get to cover children claiming ‘funded’ or ‘free’ hours doesn’t come close to meeting the cost in reality.

And amid increased energy bills, increased rent, and sky-high food costs - combined with the need to increase staff wages from April - many nurseries claim the government’s plan for increased funding will still leave them running at a loss.

As well as being underfunded, it’s also a sector struggling with recruitment and retention. One study estimates 100,000 extra staff will be needed for the expansion to succeed.

Between March 2021 and March 2022, some 4,000 providers closed down, the biggest decline since 2016.

Nurseries are under no obligation to deliver the government’s expansion plan.

And in the same way dentists dip-out of offering NHS treatment - claiming the money they get doesn’t cover the service they provide – the government risks its preschool provision going the same way without a proper long-term investment plan.