Agenda item

To receive an overview of this subject, and to understand changes to entitlements for Hampshire children

The Committee received a report and presentation from the Director of Children’s Services and his representatives providing an overview of the changes to early years free hours entitlements in the County (Item 7 in the Minute Book).

The Committee heard that the report provided further information to Members on top of the overview of free hours entitlements, as it also provided an outline of the wider service.

Members heard that the main change to free early years education was an extension to the entitlement, from the previously offered universal 15 free hours for all three and four year olds, to now include an additional 15 hours of free early years education for those parents which met a set of criteria. This brought the total offer to 30 free hours. There were currently over 1,500 registered providers of early years education, with Hampshire making up approximately 3% of the national provision of these services. Approximately 77% of these would be offering the new extended entitlement.

There had been a marked shift in the early years market place, with most providers no longer only offering places matching the academic year; most now offer over 39 weeks, with 32% offering 48 – 52 weeks per year coverage.

The allocation of funding for services has been based on the early years census, and of the funding received at least 95% of it must be allocated to providers. There was now a funding formula that was nationally-set (Early Years National Funding Formula) which the local authority uses to set provider hourly rates, with additional funding for deprivation, early years pupil premiums, SEN inclusion, and the disability access fund. There remained concerns in the sector about the affordability of the additional free hours, especially if all eligible parents applied for places. 

There were a number of challenges for providers which needed careful monitoring to ensure that provision remained sufficient across the County. These included areas such as increases in expenses (including the national living wage introduction and the impact of business rate changes) and issues with premises. There were also a number of challenges for parents, such as ensuring that they re-confirmed their eligibility when prompted, and were aware of how to apply, what providers offered and what additional charges could be levied. Hampshire County Council also faced challenges in ensuring that the budget pressure through the Department for Education not meeting the expected allocation amount was managed, and that sufficiency was monitored.

The Department had undertaken a significant amount of work as an ‘early innovator’ with providers and parents to ensure that the new entitlements could be implemented smoothly. To date, the Council had managed to convey the message about early years to over 7,000 parents who had positively registered and confirmed their eligibility for the scheme, making Hampshire the local authority with the most positive checks in England. Much of the work undertaken had been through soft social media stories, partnership working, and making the best use of communications, and positive feedback had been received about the approach taken so far.

In response to questions, Members heard:

·      The entitlement was from the term after the child’s birthday, so for children having a birthday in April, the entitlement would be from the summer term.

·      That all parents complete a declaration form, where it is stated which providers are claiming which free hours of entitlements, so that if it were determined that a parent was no longer entitled to the additional 15 hours, it would be clear which free provision would stop, and which would continue.

·      Notionally parents could choose up to 14 providers, as two can be used per day and early years provision now extended to seven days per week and from .am to 8pm This was unlikely, but presented a wider risk around parents ensuring that they are clear on what they are claiming for when registering for care.

·      Of the providers that had stopped offering care in the previous year, only two group providers were known to have taken the decision to cease providing early years education due to the additional hours entitlement, and this was only a partial factor in the decision to close (with most relating to not attracting a sustainable number of children).

·      The additional charge that could be made by early years providers to parents covered at the moment only meals and consumables, for example sun creams and nappies. The legislation did not allow this to extend to apparatus for the delivery of the foundation stage, such as pencils or craft materials. Not all providers were levying an additional charge.

·      The government would be reviewing what parents are being asked to contribute, so this may change in the future. Should parents be charged high amounts of contributions, or be concerned about the use of their payments, they could report this to the Council who could challenge this with the provider if appropriate, although parents should always seek to discuss this with the provider first.

·      The early years service were aware of the need to ensure children from hard to reach communities have the same access to provision, and work to this end had been undertaken with the Citizens Advice Bureau and Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service, as well as providing translatable materials on the website. Engagement had also been undertaken with stakeholders including housing associations, medical professionals, social care, and those working in frontline services.

·      At this time it was considered that there was enough capacity in the market to support the required number of places and hours of provision for those aged two to four years old. Hampshire has a very large market with over 45,000 places, and the role of Hampshire County Council was to continue to review and ensure that these are in the right places at the right time, given that provision could now be offered from 6am to 8pm, seven days a week.

The Chairman thanked the presenters for their report and presentation, and agreed that any further questions from Members could be sent to the officers via the scrutiny officer.

RESOLVED:

That Members note the overview provided.