Closures of childcare providers have reached their highest level since at least 2018, following increases in employer national insurance contributions (NIC) that came into force last year.
Poorer areas are worst-affected by shutdowns that are leaving parents struggling to find places, the Early Years Alliance warned.
For parents who managed to secure a place this autumn, they face increasing fees for hours not funded by the government and for extras such as nappies, wipes and food, the trade body said.
us news
Ex-gang boss found guilty over Tupac Shakur murder
Former gangland boss Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, has been found guilty of orchestrating the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.
It is the first time anyone has been convicted over the infamous drive-by shooting.
What you need to know
- The jury found Davis guilty of one count of murder with a deadly weapon.
- Prosecutors argued that Davis did not fire the gun himself, but had masterminded the killing.
- He is a former gang leader and uncle of the man long suspected of shooting Tupac.
- After the verdict, Davis said he plans to appeal his conviction. He is due to be sentenced on 13 October.
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What happened on the night
The cold case has rumbled on for decades, with witnesses allowing police to piece together the chain of events before the rapper died.
- On 7 September, 1996, Tupac went to watch a Mike Tyson boxing match on the Las Vegas strip.
- He and Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of his record label, got into a fight with Orlando Anderson, Duane Davis’s nephew and a suspected member of the South Side Compton Crips gang.
- Leaving the match with Suge, Tupac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting from the back of a white Cadillac.
- Six days later, on 13 September, he died in hospital. He was 25 years old.
What convinced the jury?
The prosecution used Davis’s 2019 memoir, , in which he wrote he had been in the white Cadillac when the shots were fired.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Binu Palal urged jurors to find Davis guilty, saying: “He’s the shot caller – in every instance in every iteration he’s the leader of the South Side Crips.”
Super flu vaccines start for pregnant women and children
Millions of children and pregnant women across England can get an updated flu vaccine from today.
Flu jabs: What you need to know
This year’s vaccine will protect against the Super-K strain which was rampant last year.- Schoolchildren and pregnant women will get priority as they can easily catch and spread flu.
- Other vulnerable groups, including those aged 65 and over, will be eligible for a free jab from October.
- Children over two will be offered the vaccine as a nasal spray, while adults will receive an injection.
- Pharmacies, GP surgeries and schools will offer the vaccines on the NHS.
Why is it important?
Dr Amanda Doyle, a national director at NHS England, said: “Last year’s flu season came early and was made worse by a new variant, which had a major impact for patients and put enormous pressure on urgent and emergency care services.”
She added: “With services already under significant pressure, it is vital that everyone offered the vaccine comes forward.”
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Facts and figures
- Jabs will be given in locations including mobile vans.
- Last year’s flu season started a month early with the Super-K strain.
- Children are offered a vaccine in September as flu spreads quickly.
- Almost 19 million people had flu jabs last winter, preventing 104,000 hospital admissions.
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uk politics
Burnham to tell MPs more public control needed
The Prime Minister is set to call for greater control over public services like water, energy and transport in his first House of Commons statement since entering No 10.
What is he calling for?
Burnham held a Cabinet meeting this morning as the Government set out plans to build more prison spaces.
He has already announced cuts to VAT on energy bills and business rates for pubs and clubs and plans to overhaul social care.
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Burnham’s first test in the Commons
Today’s speech will be Burnham’s first time at the dispatch box in 16 years.
He is expected to face a two-hour grilling from MPs when he stands up in the Commons on Tuesday this afternoon.
On Wednesday, he will face Tory leader Kemi Badenoch during his first Prime Minister’s Questions.
Burnham is expected to face questions on how he plans to fill a £4.7bn black hole in defence spending.
Burnham has ‘clear plan’
- The PM is considering legislation to to bring struggling utilities under government ownership.
- He is set to tell MPs the cost of services to families is harming the economy.
- Burnham is set to promise a plan to regain control of these costs.
- A No 10 source said: “Andy is optimistic about our country’s future. He has a clear plan for how we turn things round.”
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Many working parents of children aged nine months to four years are entitled to 30 hours of government-funded childcare, but providers said the subsidies neither cover the full cost of delivery nor factor in the rise of NICs.
The childcare businesses worst-affected
The rate of employer NICs increased from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent in April 2025.
The number of nurseries and childminders dropped 5 per cent from 56,300 in 2023 to 53,600 in 2025, according to Department for Education (DfE) data. Childminders were worst-affected by closures.
This was the lowest number of providers since at least 2018, when there were 66,600 childminding settings.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “If providers are trying to stay open, the only thing they can do to cross-subsidise the shortfall in funding is increase their charges.”
In poorer areas, parents are less able to afford higher fees, which makes it harder for providers to stay afloat, he said.
The Early Years Alliance, which represents the sector but also operates 28 of its own not-for-profit nurseries, closed around 12 locations in disadvantaged areas after the NI rise added £1.2m to its staff bill.
Workers also feel the squeeze
Despite demand for childcare from parents, the quantity of jobs advertised in the sector has also plunged to its lowest level since January 2021, according to Indeed, a recruitment website.
The number of staff working in the sector has remained flat in the last year, according to DfE data analysed by The i Paper.
Leitch said the NI rise has had knock-on effects on workers in the sector, who are younger than average because older, more experienced staff have been leaving.
He said: “It is a tax on business, but a tax on business means that that business has to consider whether it can expand, whether it can increase salaries, or whether in fact it actually has to contract.”
He said many staff members are paid close to minimum wage and claim benefits because they struggle to make ends meet.
Leitch said a freeze in the personal income tax allowance as well as high inflation have added to workers’ challenges, saying: “People are worse off, and I don’t think anybody could deny that.”
Tax system ‘shifting responsibility towards younger workers’
It comes as an influential think-tank called on the Government to introduce NI on pensioners’ incomes to shield workers from further levies.
The Institute for Public Policy Research said billions of pounds of tax rises were required on pensioners to fix a system that “has become too tilted in favour of age and wealth”.
Ben Ansell, a professor at the University of Oxford and the report’s author, wrote: “The current government entered office having ruled out changes to the big three taxes on ‘working people’ – income tax, employee NI and VAT.
“It quickly opted to raise employer NI, which met the words if not the spirit of that commitment, and may in turn be blamed for slowing down employment growth and pressures on the small business sector.”
He said the tax system “has increasingly shifted responsibility towards younger workers while protecting many of those who have benefited most from decades of rising property and asset wealth”.