EYSFF delay 'threatens nurseries'
Private and voluntary sector nurseries are more vulnerable to closure in the current economic climate now that the Early Years Single Funding Formula has been delayed by a year, the National Day Nurseries Association has warned.
While many in the early years sector believe the delay is necessary to ensure the way the funding is distributed does not threaten maintained nursery schools, the NDNA said that funding for the free entitlement in PVI settings was at crisis point.
The organisation said the Government must look at ring-fencing funds as a step towards resolving issues with the free entitlement funding.
Last week, children's minister Dawn Primarolo told MPs she had decided to postpone bringing in the EYSFF until April 2011, after a DCSF survey last month revealed that two-thirds of local authorities were not ready to implement it from next April.
Giving evidence to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, Ms Primarolo said, 'I am minded to postpone, under certain circumstances, with certain conditions, the implementation of the single formula.'
The announcement comes amid concerns that the move to a formula based on take-up rather than places threatens the sustainability of maintained nursery schools (News, 8 October).
Last month, South Gloucestershire local authority also said that the formula threatened nursery classes in some primary schools (News, 26 November).
But NDNA chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, 'Ultimately, delaying the formula will only mean that the road to achieving fairer funding is longer for private, voluntary and independent providers. If a delay is implemented because local authorities report it is not working, then the Government needs to explore why and what action needs to be taken centrally and locally to resolve the issues.
'Many PVI providers have put a huge amount of effort into ensuring the formula can work, including sitting on groups and sharing information about their costs. Funding for the free entitlement is at crisis point, and there will be many questioning how, with funding not yet resolved, they can deliver a flexible 15-hour offer.'
Feedback from local authorities, providers and parents to the Government showed that there were increasing concerns about the impact of the formula on providers, and the complexities of introducing it alongside the extension to the 15-hour entitlement.
Ms Primarolo told MPs that information that had been collected from local authorities had revealed 'a huge variance in approach and practice'.
While there was a consensus the idea of a formula was right in principle, the minister said only around a third of local authorities were 'ready to go' while others were 'struggling'.
Ms Primarolo said that the funding formula was announced in 2007 as a way of bringing 'greater transparency and accountability to the system', but that '2007 was a different time economically' and that the recession had brought a number of challenges for local authorities.
However, she said the Government would invite those local authorities who were ready to implement the Early Years Single Funding Formula to take part in pathfinders and to use their experiences to share good practice with other areas.
She added, 'We will seek in the intervening period - the delay of a year - to get ourselves to a sensible position, working with local authorities and the PVI sector to have an implementation for everyone that will work.
'I am not blaming local authorities or the PVI sector here, but am saying that this is a big challenge and that we have to get it right.'
WAS THE MINISTER RIGHT TO DELAY THE EYSFF?
YES
CATHERINE FARRELL, joint chief executive, National Childminding Association
During the pilot phase, differences in approach across local authorities meant there were variations in hourly rates for childminders. In some areas, rates offered were lower than average market rates. The application of the EYSFF should take into account the unique way childminders deliver the free entitlement, for example, the smaller adultto-child ratios. NCMA looks forward to working with the pathfinder local authorities to establish a consistent and transparent approach to funding childminders and hopes that wider implementation will deliver parity across authorities.
MEGAN PACEY, chief executive, Early Education
In local authorities there is a continuing picture of chaos and confusion. The majority of areas are still struggling to set formulae that ensure the sustainability of many of the high-quality maintained nursery schools and classes. Taking the time now to make sure we get this right is absolutely vital if a decade of investment benefiting the most disadvantaged children and their families is not to be undone, and the highest quality nursery provision is not lost.
NEIL LEITCH, director of communications at the Pre-school Learning Alliance
It is refreshing the Government has been brave enough to accept there are fundamental problems. The last thing the sector needs is for the formula to be implemented then subjected to a series of corrections before it is fit for purpose. The Alliance has expressed concerns about potential flaws in the new formula, especially the struggle faced by some local authorities to collect the comprehensive data they need to make sure funding is allocated fairly.
NO
PURNIMA TANUKU, Chief Executive of National Day Nurseries Association
The sector has had high expectations for more sustainable levels of funding from the formula and delaying the move is simply delaying fairer and more equitable funding. We will be working to highlight how we must get this right rather than put it off, which simply risks the viability of nurseries further in the current economic climate.
