Access to Early Childhood Education Centres (ECEC) is highly dependent on local dynamics: regions are unequally provided with crèches, families have a range of different needs, and regional variations in access norms to Early Childhood Education Centres are set by children’s services. This article, based on a qualitative survey of families and professionals, analyses the challenges of meeting the demand for places in ECECs. It clarifies the decisions required in the work of defining demand, work that involves the social work registers of listening, of administrative activityand child protection, adjusted to the local contexts. The agencies therefore tend to highlight two main issues, namely ensuring social diversity in Early Childhood Education Centres, and providing a public response to particular demands.