Ofsted Annual Report 2024: Which parts of the Midlands are best and worst for access to childcare?

  • Ofsted Director for the East Midlands spoke to ITV Central about the region-wide problems affecting childcare.

Ofsted's annual report for this year has been released today and has shown gaps in childcare for many across the Midlands.

Walsall was ranked as the second worst place in the country for access to Childcare.

The report also recognised the whole of the East Midlands region as a "desert", which is an area with high levels of child poverty and where people are likely to be on low incomes.

Mike Sheridan, Ofsted Regional Director for the East Midlands said: "It'll be attached to areas of deprivation. It'll be attached to the number of people who are paying for childcare in those areas, because it is a business in many occasions".

He also said that a lot of the problems were caused by "transience" in the childcare sector and that there is a shortage of people "working in childcare and education".

But what does access to childcare look like where I live?

In the West Midlands:

  • Birmingham- 18% of children are consistently absent from school

  • Coventry- Over 20%

  • Dudley- Over 20%

  • Shropshire- Over 20%

  • Staffordshire- 17.7%

  • Walsall- 21.6%

In the East Midlands:

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know