Decision - Extension to the Free Early Years Entitlement

1.       That the targeting of economic deprivation by using a measure of children living in worst 30% Super Output Areas as ranked by the national Index of Income Deprivation Affecting Children be agreed.

2.       That to target early years settings, not individual children, and to pilot the extension in those settings which have the highest proportion of children attending who live in worst 30% areas be agreed.

3.       That the funding of settings who are open for 38 weeks and can show that the additional 2.5 hours will be free be approved.

4.       That a citywide framework of between 2 and 6 hours a day be agreed.

1.       The proposal is to offer the funding to those settings with the highest proportion of children living in the worst 30% Super Output Areas based on January 2008 census information.  The new January census information will be available in March 2008.  Any significant changes in the pattern of attendance by disadvantaged children will be reviewed then.

2.       To fund 25% of children will mean ensuring that just under 1000 children can access 15 hours.  All early years settings in the city have been ranked according to the proportion of children who live in the worst 30% areas (annex 1).  The proposal is to fund the top 40 settings who meet certain conditions.  If a setting does not meet the conditions or did not want to participate in the pilot then the next setting on the list would be considered.

3.       For the pilot settings will need to be open for at least 38 weeks a year.  Where providers are open for less than 38 weeks the Department expects local authorities to arrange additional weeks for those children.  This would be difficult to arrange and would be disruptive for the children. 

4.       The DCSF guidance states that local authorities can offer a minimum of 2 hours a day and a maximum of 10 hours in one day.  LAs must

·       Ensure genuine flexibility is delivered

·       Actively encourage and support providers to increase flexibility 

·        Ensure a sufficient number of providers deliver a flexible offer to meet local needs – not every provider has to offer the same level of flexibility

·        Agree the maximum hours that can be funded in a day

5.                 The proposal is to agree a maximum of 6 hours a day – this is the same length as a school day.  Providers would be able to decide the level of flexibility they wanted to offer parents.  For example some providers might decide to just offer 3 hours a day. 

1.       Government guidance asks local authorities to target economic deprivation and suggests using local Super Output Level information.  The proposal is to use the national Index of Income Deprivation Affecting Children to identify those Super Output Areas which are in the worst 30% in the country.  The Government uses the worst 30% to target full offer Children’s Centre services.  Alternative measures of deprivation were considered including the Index of Deprivation. 

2.       Local authorities have to choose whether to target children or settings.  The proposal is to fund all children in a setting and not individual children.  It will be easier for the setting if all the children are doing the same and less stigmatising for the child/family.  This is particularly important in settings which are changing their hours from 12.5 to 15.  This approach does mean that we will fund some children who live in less deprived areas.  The alternative would be to only fund children who lived in certain areas of the city.  The Department’s view is that the pilot is just for a year and it is more important to have a workable system than a perfect match with deprivation.  Feedback from the Government Office for the South East is that all south east authorities are adopting a similar approach.

3.       Different options for the maximum number of hours in the day were considered including the maximum of 10 hours.  Although not every provider has to offer flexibility the local authority must ensure that a citywide offer is available to parents who want it.  Many providers, including schools, would find it very difficult to provide more than 6 hours a day.