Call for evidence on funding labelled as flawed

The Government's eight-week consultation asked nurseries to share their costs, but did not ask specific questions, leaving some providers uncertain as to what was required.

The consultation, which closed on 10 August, simply asked for, 'Evidence from early years providers about the factors that make up the cost of providing childcare, and how much of the total cost they represent.'

The Government is undertaking a review into the costs of providing childcare in England and has committed to increasing the average childcare funding rates.

The national rollout of the 30-hour entitlement for working parents of three and four-year-olds starts in 2017, but ahead of that date 'early implementers' are being asked to come forward to take part in trials of the 30 hours (see box).

The call for evidence is intended to inform the funding review, which will report later in the autumn.

Maria Sanchez, owner of Treehouse Nursery School in Wanstead, said it took nearly two days to put together their financial information. 'We filled it in with an accountant,' she said.

The nursery has two settings in Wanstead and 300 children on its books. Ms Sanchez said she is the largest childcare provider in the area. 'We're full every day and we have waiting lists for some of our rooms.'

Mandy Peacock, the nursery's head of nursery operations, said, 'It was so difficult to compile the information. Our priority should be with the children. We're very busy and it's just so time-consuming.'

Brian Jenkins, managing director of Jubilee Day Nursery in Reading, said that most nurseries providing funded childcare places are not big nursery chains and simply do not have the resources or the time to compile the information required.

'The vast bulk of providers fall into the category of 20- to 60-place nurseries, with this being further supplemented by a substantial number of childminders and charity-run units,' he said. 'Run off their feet with their dedication to the business of looking after the children in their care, they are already dealing with the onerous burden of invoicing clients, paying bills, admin and the necessary bureaucratic need of insuring high standards of childcare and of course the further and continuing training of staff. This is without the practical considerations of maintenance of property and all other incidental issues of running a business. It leaves no time to give the necessary, competent response to the Government request for evidence of costs.

'Regardless of the importance of this issue, it will inevitably take second place to all of the above matters with what we expect will be a very low response rate. Consider also that the skill set of the majority of childcare management and staff will seldom embrace accountancy - which is then a "bought-in commodity".'

Mr Jenkins suggested that what was needed was an industry-wide overview and an accounts-based response.

He proposed a team of skilled people from the sector, who along with Government officials would carry out an evaluation 'of the whole maze of costs'.

Some nurseries are also reluctant to share their financial information and said they found the process confusing. Nicola Walters, owner of Acres of Fun in Newbury, said, 'There was a box to fill in with evidence of your costings. I would have preferred specific questions to find out what they're looking for. Are they trying to find out how much it's underfunded? It's difficult to know what they wanted.'

She added, 'The sector is so diverse and our costs are all so different. It's impossible to make one size fit all. We run a 100-place day nursery from 8am to 6pm, 51 weeks a year, with a holiday club. We have business rates, large grounds and premises and an enormous mortgage to pay. My costs are way more than those for a small pre-school in a village hall that would just have rent to pay. How are they going to correlate all that information?'

Ms Walters said that while West Berkshire early years team had suggested that providers send in detailed costs, she was reluctant to do so because this was 'private business information'. 'I certainly wasn't prepared to do that. I put in my hourly rate and showed them what the funding was based on,' she said.

West Berkshire local authority's funding has a base rate, which is variable dependent on the setting's premises and size of grounds, and a quality payment dependent on staff qualifications, she said.

'Taking all this into account the funding I receive is £1.15 an hour short of the hourly rate.'

The nursery owner also criticised the timing of the consultation, which coincided with the summer holidays as 'totally unacceptable for term-time-only' providers, such as smaller pre-schools.

•  Read Brian Jenkins' 16-point response to the call for evidence and comment here
• Share your thoughts on the funding review at news.nw@markallengroup.com or post your comments below.

EVENTS ON 30-HOUR ENTITLEMENT

The Department for Education (DfE) and 4Children are holding a series of joint events across the country about the 30-hour funded childcare entitlement.

As well as a presentation from the DfE, there will be two workshops. The first workshop will look at what the 30 hours could look like from a child's perspective, focusing on what needs to be in place in terms of quality, flexibility, workforce and special educational needs and disability. The second workshop will look at how providers can work together to deliver the 30 hours and what needs to be in place to make this happen.

4Children said that the events have been extremely popular and the current dates are all booked up but they have confirmed that more dates will be held in October. Details will be posted on the Foundation Years website at www.foundationyears.org.uk.

Meanwhile, providers that would like to be early implementers of the 30 hours and take part in the trials beginning in September 2016 can register their interest by emailing the DfE at early.implementers@education.gsi.gov.uk by 28 September. They will then be sent details of how to apply.