The rise in employers National Insurance (NI) contributions and the lowering of the NI threshold announced in the budget is likely to put pressure on nursery provision – forcing some nurseries to close and others to limit the number of free nursery spaces available for working families. This could be damaging to the roll-out of extended free nursery spaces for children aged 9 months to 4 years. We are seeing a large number of relocating families moving with pre-school children and this could have a significant impact on the availability of nursery care.