The Graduate Leader Fund (GLF) has the potential to be a more dynamic funding stream than the under-spent £250m Transformation Fund which it supersedes. But it will still rely on local authorities being responsive to the needs of local providers.
The £305m GLF - made up of £232m for settings, channelled through local authorities, and £73m for the Children's Workforce Development Council to deliver Early Years Professionals - represents a long-term commitment to introducing more graduate leadership in the PVI sector. To address concerns about sustainability, the Government has given what it calls an 'in-principle' commitment to making funding available until 2015, covering the next two spending review periods.
The GLF is designed to be more flexible. According to the recently issued Government guidance, settings have free rein to use the cash in whatever areas they feel will be most effective in supporting the employment of graduates.
An advantage over the Transformation Fund is that the GLF frees up cash to support the salary costs for newly-employed or existing graduates, or to increase the salary of an existing staff member who is training to be an EYP.
Unlike the Transformation Fund, there is no cap on fees as a condition of accessing the money. Fees may exceed the former £175 cap (£205 for London), and a setting of any shape or size is free to contact its local authority to find out if it can qualify for the fund.
National Day Nurseries Association chief executive Purnima Tanuku welcomes the increased flexibility and hopes that local authorities will receive support to ensure that problems that dogged the Transformation Fund - such as the lengthy application process, and local conditions - are not repeated.
She says, 'Settings already support the principle and understand the benefits that investing in their staff brings. The challenge will now be ensuring that these funds create solutions.'
At the Daycare Trust, Alison Garnham, joint chief executive, says, 'One very good aspect of the GLF is the emphasis on using the money for continuing development of existing staff and, where this succeeds, it might mean more chance of continuity for children in a sector where staff turnover is often high.'
She also hopes that giving the extra funding to the PVI sector will mean that the costs of extra staff qualifications will not be passed on to hard-pressed parents.
'Devoting extra funding to making childcare a graduate profession is a welcome signal from the Government, and Daycare Trust strongly supports this direction of travel, as it holds out some hope that one day we will have all childcare settings staffed by caring professionals with an interest in and commitment to child development,' she says.
Making the decision to invest in graduate leadership inevitably involves some risk for PVI providers, and local authorities have a duty to help them to manage that. The Government expects local authorities to work with providers in their areas to develop their own models for the delivery of the GLF.
Alison Garnham remains concerned that the money is not ring-fenced. 'We urge local authorities to spend every penny of it on the purpose for which it was intended,' she says. Purnima Tanuku believes it is important that local authorities get the message across loud and clear to nurseries that the funding will be there to complete their commitment to achieving higher qualifications.
She says, 'We look forward to seeing how this money can work in practice to support PVI nurseries in achieving the ambitious vision for workforce reform, and we would urge them to waste no time in contacting their local authority to find out more about how this can support them.'
STEPS TO GRADUATE LEADERSHIP
Local authorities carry the responsibility for 'passporting' the Graduate Leader Fund to local PVI providers. Providers are free to apply the grant as they wish, but they may consider using it to:
- contribute to salary costs for newly-employed or existing graduates
- provide further continuing professional development for graduates to support retention
- support an existing staff member in the setting to train towards becoming a graduate Early Years Professional and enhancing their salary, both while they are training and once they have achieved EYP status.
As a condition of receiving the GLF, providers must commit to employing a graduate to lead learning and development within the setting within a reasonable time period. For settings that are 'growing' graduates from within their existing staff, training should lead to graduate-level qualifications and EYP status.
Further information:
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/workforcereform/earlyyea rsworkforce.
