It comes after the DfE announced approved funding for 300 school-based nurseries under the first phase of the scheme – a tenth of the total number school-based settings it plans to create as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.
The Early Years Alliance, along with others in the sector, has voiced its concerns about the impact of the policy on Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) providers. Earlier in the month, it wrote to the early years minister asking why the PVI sector is held in 'such disregard' after the DfE implied its school-based nurseries will provide children with a 'smoother transition to Reception year'.
The Alliance is worried that PVI settings currently operating on school grounds could be forced to find new premises at short notice if schools decide to open and run their own nursery provision. It says it is aware of a number of recent instances where this has happened, to enable the school in question to apply for or obtain funding under the new Government grant. It refers to DfE guidance for schools that states:
‘Leasing to PVIs and childminders can be mutually beneficial, offering childcare and additional income for schools. However, you should consider future needs of the space before you enter an agreement.
‘Long leases with PVIs or childminders grant exclusive possession, limiting reoccupation until lease end. Licences offer more flexibility and are easier to terminate but must be carefully structured to avoid being considered leases.’
As such, the Alliance has submitted an FOI request to the DfE as part of an investigation to uncover the impact of the school-based nursery policy on PVI providers.
The FOI requests asks:
- How many of the primary schools awarded funding under the school-based nursery capital grant have had private, voluntary or independent early years providers operating on their premises over the past two years?
- How many of the primary schools awarded funding under the school-based nursery capital grant have served notice on private, voluntary or independent early years providers operating on their premises over the past two years?
- How many of the school-based nurseries awarded funding under the school-based nursery capital grant are within two miles of a registered PVI early years nursery, pre-school or childminding setting?
Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch said, ‘We have been repeatedly assured by Government that school-based nursery provision is intended to work alongside, and not replace, PVI provision, and that only schools that can demonstrate that there is a local need for additional places would be awarded funding.
‘Despite this, we are now receiving reports of high-quality PVI providers being forced to seek new premises – or worse still, close altogether – because the school whose premises they were previously operating from has told them to leave. This is completely unacceptable.
‘PVI providers are an absolutely critical part of the early years sector, delivering the vast majority of early entitlement places, and providing the kind of flexible care and education that so many working families around the country desperately need. Any policymaker who thinks that school-based nurseries can ever replace the provision delivered by PVI settings has fundamentally misunderstood the early years.
‘Our hope is that our Freedom of Information Act request will help shine a light on the true impact of the push for more school-based nurseries on PVI settings, and ensure that those working in the PVI sector don’t end up as collateral damage as a result of this policy.’
