Childcare sufficiency assessment
The Childcare Act places a duty on local authorities in England to secure, as far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient childcare to meet the requirements of parents in their area who require childcare, and this includes securing provision of funded early education entitlement (FEEE) places, for eligible young children under compulsory school age.
The Spring 2023 budget announced a range of national changes to the childcare sector, with the aim to support parents returning to work by providing greater access to affordable childcare.
A significant change introduced for was the expansion of funded early education entitlements (FEEE) for working families, in three phases - April 2024, September 2024 and September 2025.
Market Position Statement for FEEE places Forecast for September 2025
A Market Position Statement for FEEE places is prepared to measure sufficiency of funded places, and it is essentially a snapshot, at a point in time, based on the known supply of funded places and projected demand for the funded entitlements worked out using various sources of data such as population data, historical take-up trends, data from the department of education (DfE), data from the department of works and pensions (DWP) and application of reasonable estimates where necessary.
This Market Position Statement (MPS-Spr-25) is based on the supply of FEEE places in Spring 2025 and predicted demand from September 2025 when the final phase of the expansion of FEEE offers will be implemented. It has been developed to give an indication, at ward and cluster level, of the surpluses and deficits for the various funded entitlements from September 2025.
The MPS-Spr-25 will support the local authority, existing childcare providers and potential new providers to understand the market and the findings will be used as a guide to plan a strategic approach for funding and growth to be channelled in areas where significant gaps in FEEE provision are indicated.
If you have any queries or comments, please email the Early Education Development Team at EEDteam@leicester.gov.uk.