needed to be able to give this to parents. over the last year, the number of childcare places has fallen and councils are keeping a close eye on what we re all doing in local. what we re all doing in local government is working really, really closely with providers to make sure that we can get the best service that we actually can. but it goes back to one of our original asks was about having more control at a local level so that we can actually direct providers to set up where they re needed, not where they think they would like to go. and we re still calling on government for those extra powers to be able to do that. there are three months to go before the roll out begins, a help for many working parents, but a real challenge for an already stretched sector. vanessa clarke, bbc news. joining us now is neil leitch from the early years alliance.