Town named as childcare desert by Ofsted

Walsall has been described as a "childcare desert" by Ofsted in its latest annual report.

The West Midlands town has 13.5 pre-school places for every 100 children - compared to an average across England of 25.1.

Areas that are struggling have "a greater incidence of low incomes and high child poverty", and are neighbourhoods that might be described as disadvantaged, the report said.

Rob Hackfath, Ofsted's assistant regional director for the West Midlands, said it was a "mixed picture" across the region.

Analysing figures from the Office for National Statistics, he said: "Generally, compared to England as a whole, there are fewer places available for parents and carers to put their child into childcare, so that is a concern."

The average for the West Midlands region as a whole was 20.9.

Further data from Ofsted showed Wolverhampton also had fewer places with an average 16.0 places per 100 children. Dudley's average came in at 17.0 and Sandwell was 16.2.

Areas below the regional average included Birmingham with 20.4, Stoke-on-Trent with 20.1 and Coventry with 18.1.

Other areas fared better with scores of 23.6 in Herefordshire, 24.3 in Shropshire, 23.7 in Staffordshire, 21.7 in Telford and Wrekin, 26.1 in Warwickshire, and 24.4 in Worcestershire.

Mr Hackfath said: "In the childcare deserts, families are struggling to access that high-quality childcare provision that we know exists."

He said children who were vulnerable benefited the most from early years education, so it was a "definite concern" if they were not able to access places.

Issues affecting provision included difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, more competitive incomes for childcare staff elsewhere, and a lack of courses to train people, he said.

He said Ofsted, which ensures childcare settings are suitable and safe and staff are appropriate to work in them, would be speeding up and streamlining the process for providers to register.

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