Section 18: Day care for pre-school and other children.

Children Act 1989 · 1989 c. 41View on legislation.gov.uk

Part III: SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PROVIDED BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND

Every local authority shall provide such day care for children in need within their area who are—

aged five or under; and
not yet attending schools,

as is appropriate.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A local authority may provide facilities (including training, advice, guidance and counselling) for those—

caring for children in day care; or
who at any time accompany such children while they are in day care.

In this section "day care" means any form of care or supervised activity provided for children during the day (whether or not it is provided on a regular basis).

Every local authority shall provide for children in need within their area who are attending any school such care or supervised activities as is appropriate—

outside school hours; or
during school holidays.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In this section "supervised activity" means an activity supervised by a responsible person.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.