30 hours of funded childcare: Provider Factsheet
What is the 30 hours policy?
Currentlyall 3 and 4 year-olds are entitled to 570 hours of government funded childcare per year. From September 2017, thanks to a change in law brought in with the Childcare Act 2016, those with working parents will become eligible for an additional 570 hours. That’s 30 hours per week if taken during term-time or 22.8 hours if stretched across 50 weeks per year.
While the 30 hours policy will be paid for by central government, it is the statutory responsibility of the local authority to ensure that every child living in their area is able to access their entitlement.
Planning for the delivery of the 30 hours
Stepping up to the challenge
When the Department for Education (DfE) first set out its 30 hours policy there were concerns at this Council – as there were at many others - about its viability. However, looking at all the information we have from parents, providers, and other local authorities, and taking into account the uplift that providers will see in their funding rates,we are confident that the 30 hours policy can be implemented in Cambridgeshire.
It will not be easy to offer the 30 hours, but we believe that providers who are able to offer the new entitlement will be an attractive proposition to parents. Conversely,over time, prospects may be more challenging for providers who are not in a position to deliver it. There will be significant support for settings struggling to offer the 30 hours: we are committed to doing all that we can to make it work for the sector as a whole, recognising that loss of provision is bad for parental choice.
Our work so far
Over the past few months our focus has been on identifying how much additional provision we are likely to need in different areas come September 2017. We have been drawing on as many different sources as we can for this – from census data to the results of the annual providers’ audit; responses from the parent survey to funding statistics - to make our forecasting as accurate as possible.
The information we have gathered so far has already been used to support Cambridgeshire County Council’s bid for grant funding from the DfE Early Years Capital Fund.
The DfE, recognising delivery of the 30 hours policy would require some settings to expand their premises, offered all local authorities the opportunity to bid for up to £5 million from a capital fund set aside to support the initiative.
As a County identified as ‘High’ need, Cambridgeshire was able to bid for up to six projects. Clear criteria were set on the basis of;
- evidence of data to prove the sufficiency need
- an Ofsted rating
- evidence of matched funding of a minimum of 25%
- ability to deliver the building expansion by August 2017.
Cambridgeshire bid for over £2.5 million to invest in 6 capital projects across the county, to create an additional 229 early years places overall. We were successful in one application and funding in excess of £500k will be received to support this project before the end of this academic year.
Next Steps
Using data from provider and parent surveys alongside demographic information, we are currently assessing what new provision needs to be put in place in each local area, our main task will be to come together with providers to work out how that is going to happen.
To help us solve the challenges we face across the county, the Council will be commissioning an external organisation whose role will be to seek and develop local solutions, supporting and developing collaboration and partnership models, where required, andsupporting early years providers with business planning.
We continue to rely on the co-operation of our providersto offer every eligible child their full entitlement. For this reason, we appreciate the commitment we have seen so far to an active and constructive dialogue from all of our providersand we understand that the council’s requests for information can feel like a source of additional pressure.We encourage providers to keep talking to usas we move towards the start of the new entitlement.