There cannot be a private provider in the country who did not identify with the points raised in 'Feeling the Squeeze' by Simon Vevers (Nursery World, 29 July). I attended a conference in September at which you, Ms Hodge, gave the keynote speech, and I was pleased to hear you say that you were seeking a genuine partnership with private providers.
My concern is that the Government directive for developing childcare provision through neighbourhood nurseries does not give clear guidance to local authorities regarding communication, liaison and investment in and with existing providers.
The starting point for proposed provision should be to assess what is already in place and running well. It would be prudent to see if the new initiatives could tap into this. Many existing providers have spaces within their nurseries that could be given to low- income earners if some investment was made by the local Sure Start team.
While this collaboration has happened in a few areas, it is not consistent.
I believe that money has been allocated to local authorities for 'projects'
with little guidance or follow-up. New nurseries are being set up by inexperienced local authority employees who may not be able to sustain provision when the three-year set-up period has passed.
We do not feel that local authorities have tapped into what we have to offer and have not worked with or consulted us. Our experiences include:
* Our West Norwood, London, nursery has joined in partnership with Sure Start. This has enabled us to offer more places and give a significant discount to parents who could not otherwise afford them. This is mutually beneficial to parents and the nursery. However, I understand that Lambeth council, which provides our funding, is planning to establish a neighbourhood nursery nearby. We have not been consulted, even though we have made it clear that we have vacancies and land on which we could develop current provision.
* Several of our nurseries are situated in the Slough area. The local authority asked if we would like to submit a neighbourhood nursery bid. We applied but never had a response, despite following up our submission. The local newspaper then reported that the local authority was opening the nursery themselves.
* We run a head office and training centre in Langley, Berkshire. Ninety- three NVQ Level 2 and 3 childcare trainees attend. Another 25 want to do the course, but we cannot afford to take them because we do not receive help with fees. We train more childcare workers than the local college, yet they receive funding and we do not.
* We offered our training facilities and conference room free of charge to Sure Start but this offer has never been taken up, although they have now said they will do so in the new year. Sure Start have established their departments, systems, policies and training without enquiring what we could provide.
* It seems no account has been taken of us being an established local group. The assumption is that everyone is starting from scratch. For example:
1 Slough Sure Start indicated that unless nurseries used their pupil profile, they could not claim funding for three- to five-year-olds. Our pupil profile had taken years to refine. It is more detailed, completed more regularly and used to inform planning. For us to adopt the Slough profile would be disruptive and counterproductive. We would, however, have shared our existing profile. Eventually we were 'allowed' to keep our documents.
2 Slough Sure Start placed more condition upon receiving the nursery education grant by insisting that, in addition to attending termly meetings, all settings must be mentored by a state nursery school and attend another two training meetings each term to discuss good practice.
The directive assumes that state school practice is superior to private sector practice.
The current situation is too detrimental to existing provision for the DfES to ignore this situation. It must act quickly to avoid many good nurseries being forced to close by a drop in numbers.
I believe the stability and future growth of the childcare market is seriously in danger of collapse if the DfES does not act quickly. Sure Start should be required to relate to, communicate with and dovetail into existing good provision.
I would like to think that articles, such as that written by Simon Vevers, will reach the right quarters and that private providers will not only be consulted but invited to be part of the decision-making process for the future of the industry. NW
Sally Eaton is director of education for the Manor Tree Group, which owns five nurseries and three nursery units
