Policy and Politics
£4m for nursery places for the most disadvantaged two-year-olds
Fifteen local authorities are taking part in a £4m pilot to test methods of providing nursery places to the poorest two-year-olds in England.
The pilot, running until March 2012, will test out ways to make sure that nursery places and staff are available in the right areas so that every disadvantaged two-year-old can access the entitlement.
Since last September, every local authority in England has been offering the 15-hour entitlement to 15 per cent of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds, a pledge made by the Labour Government, which has been carried out by the Coalition.
The Government said that £64m in 2011-2012 and £223m in 2012-2013 is being made available to allow every local authority to continue to offer free places for disadvantaged two-year-olds.
Local authorities were asked to submit bids to offer the new places, with a focus on specific issues, including increasing the number of places for two-year-olds, more flexibility for parents to stretch the free entitlement over a calendar year, and improving quality.
The largest amount of funding allocated is £400,000 for Walsall and Wolverhampton Consortium for increasing the availability of two-year-old places by encouraging settings to stretch their provision over 52 weeks a year, so that more children can take up places for fewer hours a week. The consortium will also look at a range of differnt ways to improve quality.
Elsewhere, six other local authorities have been awarded sums from £365,000 to £398,000. A further eight local authorities share the remaining funding.
The Early Years Single Funding Formula also came into force on 1 April for all local authorities who have not previously introduced the more transparent system of funding, which is designed to fund providers according to the number of children who use the free entitlement, rather than the number of nursery places they offer.
Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said, 'High quality early education is the foundation of a child’s healthy development and future success at school and beyond. It’s simply not good enough that children from poorer families are less likely to access good quality early education than their wealthier peers – even though they stand to benefit the most.
'That’s why I’m pleased to announce that 15 local authorities have been provided with funding to look at how best to deliver the free entitlement for the two year olds that need it the most. We hope that local authorities across the country will learn from these pilots before the scheme is rolled out nationally to all disadvantaged two year olds in 2013.'
Last October, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg confirmed that the free entitlement of 15 hours would be offered to the 20 per cent most disadvantaged two-year-olds- 130,000 children - based on eligibility for free school meals from 2013 (News, 20 October).
| Local authority | Key issues | Funding |
| Derbyshire | Improving work with health professionals to support the most vulnerable two-year-olds. Increasing the capability of providers to support families. | £398,554 |
| Gloucestershire | Improving the quality of provision with a focus on looked-after children and children with SEN. | £141,881 |
| Hartlepool | Improve outreach through children's centres. Increase capacity and support schools to work with two-year-olds. Trial to allow parents to carry unused hours into the next year. | £134,204 |
| Hertfordshire | Trial allowing parents to transfer unused hours of provision into the following year. Improve quality - including through mentoring and uptake of qualifications. | £398,665 |
| Manchester & Tameside Consortium | Encouraging expansion of existing providers through business support advice. Range of activity to improve the quality of provision. |
£241,700 |
| Medway | Establishing lead settings for two year olds, including through targeting funding and deployment of Early Years Professionals (EYPs). |
£275,000 |
| North Yorkshire | Increasing workforce skills: a focus on improving the language development of two year olds and working with parents to improve the Home Learning Environment. | £100,000 |
| Northamptonshire | Increasing the number of childminders who reach the quality standards for delivery of the free entitlement. | £145,500 |
| Rotherham | Increasing flexibility of provision for two year olds and creating new sustainable places. | £396,000 |
| Southampton | Enhancing data systems to improve payments to providers, reduce burdens and ensure timely, accurate data. | £43,171 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | Range of measures to improve the quality of provision for two year olds as identified during the previous pilot stage – for example challenging settings to create an environment more conducive to the development of children at that age. |
£383,864 |
| Sunderland | Improving the quality of "satisfactory" settings. Increasing the demand among parents for childminders. | £365,803 |
| Sutton & Merton Consortium | Increasing the quality and capacity of childminders. |
£130,000 |
| Tower Hamlets | Learning from work in Barking & Dagenham to increase the proportion of settings rated good or better. Work with the Institute of Education to monitor settings. |
£392,802 |
| Walsall & Wolverhampton Consortium | Increasing capacity of provision for two year olds by encouraging settings to stretch their provision over 52 weeks of the year – ie more children for fewer hours each week – and encouraging parents to take this up. Plus a range of measures to increase quality. |
£400,000 |
Source: DfE
