Nurseries are charging for free places, says Government

An evaluation into how 19 local authority pathfinder areas are delivering the extended 15-hour flexible entitlement revealed 'a small number of examples' where it was unclear whether guidance - which states that parents cannot be charged for any part of the entitlement, either indirectly or directly - was being followed.

The report concludes that the DCSF 'reinforce and clarifies the Code of Practice principles on top-up fees to local authorities and providers when the revised Code is published in September 2010.

A spokesperson for the DCSF said, 'We have made it very clear to local authorities that top-up fees linked to delivery of the free entitlement are completely unacceptable. The free entitlement is designed to offer accessible, high-quality childcare to benefit all families, and parents and carers should not be expected to top-up something that was created to be universally free.'

A 20 per cent 'uplift' in early years funding was given to the pathfinder authorities and could be passed on to providers to help them deliver the 15 hours flexibly.

This was in the form of 'enhanced hourly funding rates' for some or all of the hours, coupled with one-off grants for equipment, for example. Hourly rates and the way uplift funding was passed on varied.

PROVIDERS' REACTIONS
Providers gave 'mixed' reactions when the new entitlement was first introduced, said the report.

Local authorities found that many private providers, already unhappy about rates for 12.5 hours, did not want to deliver extra hours.

Some authorities said some private nurseries had refused to participate or pulled out completely.

Although the EYFS has removed the distinction between 'care' and 'early years education', the study found there was 'tension and lack of clarity' among providers 'as to whether the new entitlement should comprise primarily early years education, childcare provision or a mixture of both'.

While 40 per cent of providers offered provision between 4pm and 6pm, not all of them allowed parents to take up free places during this time because some providers, particularly those in the maintained sector, saw this time period as 'childcare', not 'early years education', the report said. It recommends that the DCSF issue guidance that early years learning and care can be funded through the entitlement.

The National Day Nurseries Association said it was not surprised that the report highlighted problems around funding. Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, 'With many providers struggling to deliver 2.5-hour sessions on existing levels and in some cases actually subsidising this offer, nurseries are concerned about what will happen once they are involved in the flexible entitlement.'

She added that some pilot providers raised issues about funding in year two of the pilots after the 20 per cent in uplift funding ended.

'Enhanced funding is not available for the wider roll-out and we question what will happen if providers do need extra help to deliver increased flexibility,' said Ms Tanuku.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommendations made in the report include:
* Provide a checklist for local authorities to help them assess providers' suitability to deliver the new offer. Suggested factors to take into account as a starting point include whether settings have accessible outdoor space with a variety of surfaces and resources.
* Make extra funding available to roll out the pathfinder nationally. This could be linked to providers' suitability to deliver the extended offer with the funding available, where needed, for example to develop outdoor all-weather play space.
* The DCSF could carry out research into how children's outcomes are linked to flexible attendance at more than one provider to help local authorities understand more about the impact on children of extended and flexible provision and how to manage transitions for children using more than one provider.
* The DCSF should issue guidance to reinforce that there is no distinction between 'childcare' and 'early years education' in the EYFS and confirm that the early years entitlement can be used for integrated care at any time of day.
* Target marketing of the free early years entitlement in the most deprived areas to raise awareness.