More than 500 childcare places have been lost in East Sussex since 2019

It comes as applications open this week for parents to register for 15 hours of free childcare from September for children from 9 months old. The Liberal Democrats said the fall in providers was putting the deliverability of the government’s plans into doubt and leaving parents in “without options.”

The party is calling on the Government to review the rates paid to providers for free hours to ensure they cover the actual costs of delivering high-quality childcare.

In East Sussex childcare places have fallen from 9,201 to 8.632 since 2019. The number of childcare providers in the county has also seen a steep decline, with there now being 80 fewer than in 2019, an almost 20% fall.

East Sussex County Councillor James MacCleary said: “As a dad with two young children I have first hand experience of the difficulty and cost of finding childcare locally. I have worked personally with local childcare providers to support them in staying open to continue providing high quality care and development for local children.

"Many parents are forced to stop working due to difficulties with finding childcare and that's before you even factor in the eye watering costs which is amongst the most expensive in the world.

“Free hours are no good if parents can’t find a nursery or childminder for their child – and thanks to this Conservative government's underfunding, many parents in Polegate, Newhaven, Seaford, Lewes, Ringmer and surrounding areas now face huge challenges finding and paying for childcare.”

Nationally, the number of childcare providers, including nurseries and childminders, has dropped by a fifth since 2019.

Last month the National Audit Office criticised the Government’s roll out saying that dates for the scheme were decided without the DfE or the Treasury understanding whether the sector would be able to provide the number of places needed. It recommended the DfE continuously review the expansion in case it needs to relook at the timeline due to concerns about place numbers and staffing.