The Prime Minister cannot guarantee that everyone who wants a childcare center can get one as the Government rolls out new plans.

Qualified parents and carers of two-year-olds now Entitlement to 15 hours of subsidized childcare per weekas of Monday, April 1, with further extensions planned.

The policy, announced last March, is being rolled out as the government trails Labor significantly in opinion polls ahead of the upcoming election.

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But there are concerns about the industry’s ability to absorb the impact of economic growth. childcare Where the government wants to provide.

When asked if he could guarantee that everyone who wanted a spot would get one, Chancellor Rishi Sunak No specific guarantees can be given.

“Capacity building in the industry is very important,” he told BBC Radio Newcastle.

Sunak added that the government was working to increase the number of childcare staff and said it had “cut a lot of red tape”, including making it easier to become a childcare worker and change places of work.

He also pointed to a pilot project offering £1,000 incentives to people joining the industry.

Education Minister Gillian Keegan It has not been possible to confirm that everyone will get a spot.

Government data compiled by the Department for Education shows the number of childcare providers in England will fall from 59,400 in 2022 to 56,300 in 2023.

However, the number of places on offer increased from 1,543,000 to 1,558,100 and the number of paid staff increased from 334,400 to 347,300.

Labor has released what it calls a “childcare chaos dossier” attacking what it calls “unplanned childcare promises”.

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Labor used figures from regulator Ofsted to say the number of nurseries available fell by 1,000 last year, rather than increasing by around 5,000 as government statistics suggested.

When asked about the differences, Ms Keegan Said: “Ofsted doesn’t have complete data – they only have people registered with them.

“So it doesn’t include preschools, those that are attached to schools — nor does it include nannies.

“So, as usual, Labor is looking at the wrong data and looking at the wrong end of the spectrum.”

Labor has launched a review into early years education and childcare, led by former Ofsted inspector Sir David Bell, to “deliver accessible, affordable early years education to give children the best start in life” “.

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The Conservatives took advantage of this, claiming the opposition wanted to undo its policy rollout.

In a letter to Labor frontbenchers, Keegan said this was causing “uncertainty in the market” as nursery owners were “unsure whether they should invest in expanding their operations”.