Top ten best local authorities for early years...and the ten worst, by Ofsted grade
Catherine Gaunt
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Torbay in Devon has the highest proportion of outstanding and good childminders, nurseries and pre-schools, with more than nine in ten early years providers achieving at least a good grade.
Just behind are Brighton and Richmond-upon-Thames, with 87 per cent of their early years settings rated good or outstanding.
The top ten local authorities have more than eight out of ten early years providers achieving at least a good grade.
With the exception of Dudley, the local authorities with the highest proportion of outstanding or good providers are in the South of England.
In Brighton and Hove, 87 per cent of the city’s childminders, private and voluntary nurseries, pre-schools and Sure Start children’s centre nurseries are judged to be either good or outstanding. This compares with 74 per cent in England.
Brighton's outstanding settings include Pavilion Play Group in Portslade, which runs a morning session with 24 children.
The council said that the city’s successful strategy for improving quality includes support for a quality assurance programme for all providers together with targeted support based on annual quality reviews. The council also provides training and qualification bursaries for the city’s childcare workforce.
Councillor Sue Shanks, chair of the children and young people committee said, 'This just shows that Brighton & Hove is a great place to be a baby or toddler. It’s vital that we work closely with our early years providers because evidence shows just how beneficial this is to prepare them to flourish at school.
'To be in the top ten is a fantastic accolade and is testament to the hard work being done by the providers themselves, parents who are engaging with us to continuously improve our offering and tireless work by council workers committed to the city’s children.'
TOP 10 LOCAL AUTHORITIES - BY GOOD AND OUTSTANDING EARLY YEARS PROVIDERS
| Position | Local Authority | Outstanding | Good | Overall percentage |
| 1 | Torbay | 33% | 59% | 92% |
| 2 = | Brighton | 23% | 64% | 87% |
| 2 = | Richmond-upon-Thames | 15% | 72% | 87% |
| 4 = | Southend-on-Sea | 16% | 70 | 86% |
| 4 = | Bromley | 20% | 66% | 86% |
| 6 = | Dudley | 24% | 61% | 85% |
| 6 = | Sutton | 9% | 76% | 85% |
| 8 = | Cornwall | 16% | 68% | 84% |
| 8 = | Bracknell Forest | 15% | 69% | 84% |
| 10 | Kingston-upon-Thames | 13% | 70% | 83% |
Bottom of the league
In contrast, Newham has just 55 per cent of its settings rated good or outstanding, followed by Darlington and Manchester, which both have 57 per cent of their settings achieving these grades. Seven of the local authorities with the poorest early years provision are in the north of England, while the three remaining areas are in London.
BOTTOM 10 LOCAL AUTHORITIES
| Position | Local Authority | Outstanding | Good | Overall percentage |
| 1 | Newham | 3% | 52% | 55% |
| 2= | Darlington | 5% | 52% | 57% |
| 2= | Manchester | 6% | 51% | 57% |
| 4 | Haringey | 4% | 55% | 59% |
| 5= | Bury | 9% | 51% | 60% |
| 5= | Durham | 5% | 55% | 60% |
| 5= | Brent | 8% | 53% | 60% |
| 8= | Redcar & Cleveland | 7% | 54% | 61% |
| 8= | South Tyneside | 4% | 57% | 61% |
| 10 | Tameside | 4% | 58% | 62% |
