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Child care places fall
A CRITICAL shortage of affordable child care has been exposed by a report.
Figures compiled by the London Development Agency show children’s day care places are in significant decline. Westminster is bottom of a list of 33 London boroughs for its “take-up” rates despite rising demand.
Karen Buck, Labour MP for Kensington North and Regent’s Park, said: “The Conservatives slashed the number of places they provided through social services and allowed government-funded programmes like SureStart to take up the slack. They’ve never invested in their own childcare.”
Councillor Sarah Richardson, the council lead member for children’s services, said: “Westminster has responded to the need for affordable child care by providing other initiatives to support parents. These include expanding our outreach service to target hard-to-reach groups and promoting affordable child care across our children’s centres.” |
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