NEWS
Chancellor reveals plans to extend 30 hours offer
The government plans to extend the 30-hours offer to working parents of all children from nine months old in England, as part of a plan to encourage parents back into work.
The scheme will be extended in phases, with 15 hours a week offered to all two-year-old children from April 2024, 15 hours a week offered to all children from nine months old from September 2024 and an additional 15 hours for working parents of all children from nine months from September 2025.
The Chancellor also announced plans
to increase funding for existing early years
offers.
The government will spend an extra £204 million on entitlements for three- and
four-year-olds this financial year and an additional £288 million in 2024/2025. This
is in addition to the £4.1 billion that the government will provide by 2027-28 to
facilitate the expansion of the new funded hours for younger children.
Also confirmed were rumoured plans to increase staff: child ratios in early years
settings for two-year-old children. The government will increase the ratio from
1:4 staff to children to 1:5.
The government also revealed plans to encourage more childminders into the
sector. It said that it would be rolling out a pilot scheme offering a £600 incentive for new joiners registering with Ofsted and a £1,200 incentive for those who joined the sector via a childminding agency.
The Chancellor also announced plans to pay for care and education via Universal Credit upfront instead on in arrears. Parents will now receive up to £951 for one child and £1,630 for two children per month.
Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: “While the Chancellor
claims to be building a ‘childcare system comparable to the best’, the news that
early years settings will only receive an initial increase in funding of £204m for the three- and four-year-olds completely flies in the face of this rhetoric. With the shortfall for current two-, three- and four-year-old offer estimated at around £1.8bn based on government’s own figures, the additional funding announced is highly unlikely to match what’s needed to put providers on a steady footing, and raises serious questions about the government’s entire approach to costing this policy.
“We know from bitter experience that expansions of so-called ‘free childcare’ without adequate investment are a recipe from utter disaster – and given that many providers rely on fees from younger children to make up for current funding shortfalls, the impact on the sector if the government gets this wrong cannot be underestimated.”
Government claims about early years sufficiency branded “meaningless”, following Alliance FOI
Most local authorities in England collect little to no data on whether early years provision in their area meets family needs, according to the results of an investigation by the Alliance.
The investigation saw a Freedom of Information (FoI) request sent to all local authorities in England about the data they collect on early years sufficiency in their area.
While 96% of local authorities said that they had sufficient early years places, fewer than one in six collect data on the proportion of local parents who are able to access the number of days/sessions they need, when they need and where they need it.
Of the 117 local authorities that responded, only 15% currently collect information on what proportion of parents and carers in the area can access the quantity of early years provision that they would like to – for example, if they need three full days a week of early years provision, whether or not they are able to access three full
days or can only access two.
Only 14% of those that responded currently collect data on what proportion of parents and carers in the area can access early years provision on the specific times and dates that they want – for example, if they want Mondays and Tuesdays but have had to settle for Mondays and Wednesdays.
Only 9% of those that responded currently collect data on what proportion of parents and carers in the area are able to access early education and childcare at their first-choice early years setting.
Andrew Howarth, director at Paint Pots Nurseries, based in north-west England, said: “At two of our three settings, we have had to restrict session times to a pattern we can staff for. For example, if a parent often wants an extra hour or two if it falls
outside this strict pattern, we usually have to refuse.
"We have lost children to other settings for not being able to offer the flexibility that they require, however, we have to be strict to remain sustainable."
Government publishes SEND Improvement Plan
The government has published a new SEND Improvement Plan following last year’s consultation on a range of proposals to improve the accessibility and
availability of SEND provision from birth to age 25.
Key policies likely to impact the early
years include:
- The creation of a new SEND system, which covers ages 0 to 25 and aims to “fulfil children’s potential”.
- The creation of new National Standards, aiming make clear what support should be available, who has to make provision available and what budgets should be used.
- A review of SEND funding to ensure it is “appropriate and well-targeted”.
- Training for 5,000 early years professionals to gain a Level 3 SENCO qualification.
- A review of the Early Years Educator Level 3 criteria to ensure all courses include a focus on supporting children with SEND.
Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: “Warm words will only take us so far. It is absolutely pivotal, therefore, that this review leads to a significant and long-term increase in early years SEND funding – because, as it stands, funding does not come anywhere near close to what is needed.
We know that early educators are extremely committed to supporting children with SEND, but the fact is that the current system is not fit-for-purpose and as such, it is increasingly impossible for them to be able to do so sustainably.
“The government’s SEND improvement plan is a starting point, but there is clearly a huge amount of work to be done if we are to turn rhetoric into action, and ensure that families receive the support they need when it has the potential to make the
most difference.”
High early years costs are “costing the economy billions
in lost earnings”, report claims
A new report from the Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP) claims that the high cost of early years fees is
costing the UK economy £27 billion – or 1% of GDP – in lost earnings.
The thinktank surveyed 2,545 mothers of children aged 10 and under about their early years and childcare needs.
540,000 mothers in the UK have been prevented from entering paid work due to a lack of childcare.
More than half (54%) of survey respondents said that they had struggled to find “suitable childcare” since becoming a parent. 27% said that they work more hours if they could find suitable childcare.
The survey also found that more than a third (34%) of mothers had not applied for a different job due to a lack of childcare and 31% said that this has prevented them from getting a promotion or similar job progression.
Based on these results, the CPP estimates that 540,000 mothers in the UK have been prevented from entering paid work due to a lack of suitable childcare, 880,000 have reduced their hours at work and 470,000 have quit their jobs as a result.
The most popular suggested reforms for the early years sector were extending the 30 hours offer to parents of younger children, and extending funded provision into school holidays and increasing the affordability and availability of after school clubs.
Most parents surveyed (82%) said that staff-to-child ratios should stay as they are
or that there should be fewer children per early years professional.
Only half of local authorities have sufficient childcare
for children under two, according to Coram survey
Only half of local authorities say they have sufficient early years places for children under two, according to the latest report from Coram Family and Childcare.
Fewer than one in five (18%) local authorities said they had sufficient places for children with disabilities – that’s 3% decrease since 2022
18%
of local authorities said they had sufficient places for children with disabilities.
The report also found that 43% of local authorities in Britain said that providers in their area had reduced the number of funded early years places available.
Thereport also reveals that the average cost of a full-time early years place for a child
under two is now £148.63 a week as costs continue to rise.
Over the past year, 48% of local authorities say that some or many providers have had to reduce staff numbers and 44% say that some or many providers have reduced their opening hours.
Megan Jarvie, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said: “The need for reform of the childcare system is urgent.
As well as eye watering bills, parents are facing widening gaps in availability
of the childcare they need. As the Chancellor decides his budget, we urge him to recognise the value of investing in childcare – it is a wise investment, enabling parents to work and boosting the outcomes of young children.”
Three-quarters of parents who pay for care say early years costs take up majority of their income
Three quarters of parents that pay for formal early years care say that the cost of this provision means that it no longer makes financial sense for them to work, according to a new survey by campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed.
The group surveyed more than 24,000 parents about the cost of early years education and childcare.
More than one in four of the parents surveyed (26%) said that the cost of early years provision takes up 75% of their take home pay. One in three (32%) parents had relied on a form of debt to pay for childcare costs.
Joeli Brearley, founder and CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, said: “The question isn’t whether we can afford to invest in childcare, it is whether we can afford not to.
"Unless we want to lock parents out of the labour market entirely, we need investment and we need it now.”
70% of group based providers unlikely to change
ratios, according to consultation response
The response to the government’s consultation on changing early years ratios for children aged two has found that a clear majority of group settings will not change the ratios used in their setting, despite the recently confirmed changes.
More than 14,000 people responded to the consultation, including 9,813 parents, with
most respondents opposed to the changes suggested.
The report says that this was consistent across all types of respondents – including
parents, group-based providers and representative organisations.
A survey undertaken by Natcan as part of the consultation found that a clear majority (70%) of group-based providers that care for two-year-olds said they would be either “unlikely” or “very unlikely” to change their ratios if the guidelines were relaxed. The most common reason cited for this was the risk of reducing quality of care at their provision.
Other common concerns cited by survey respondents were fears that the changes could put children’s safety at risk and the additional strain it could put on existing staff.
The government reiterated that the changes to ratio requirements would continue to be a “statutory minimum requirement” and that there would be no obligation for providers to operate at the minimum ratio.
The report says: “The government trusts that setting managers know their children and their staff best, and fully supports the judgement of setting managers and
practitioners to work at the ratios that are right for the individual needs of
their staff and children.”