The new Coalition Government has recently confirmed its decision to implement the Code of Practice for free early years entitlement, without any further review or revision.
From September 2010 this Code of Practice will come into force. It will regulate the way in which the ‘Free Entitlement’ hours are delivered by providers. It states that the 15 hours per week per child should be ‘absolutely free at the point of delivery’, i.e. no additional charge can be made for this time over and above the funding provided by the Local Authority.
We recognise the value of free provision universally for 3 &4 year olds; however the challenge many providers face is that it is not free. The proposed rates of funding are at a much lower level than the true cost of providing places at a lot of nurseries. The funding simply does not cover the cost of childcare for a substantial amount of providers in the Private Voluntary and Independent (PVI) sector. This creates a very difficult situation for childcare providers who are effectively being forced to subsidise the Government’s unrealistic plans.
Many childcare providers are predicting that this will put them out of business and some have taken the drastic decision to pull out of the ‘Free Entitlement’ scheme altogether so that they are not bound by unrealistic rules on what they can charge for their services. The unfortunate outcome of this for parents is that they will lose the benefit of 15 hours per week discount from their fees.
Others have been forced to implement fee increases to cover the huge shortfall left by the so called ‘Free’ Entitlement. Providers are concerned about the financial impact withdrawing from the scheme or increasing fees is going to have on parents and their ability to access a range of childcare services.
Another major concern is the potential threat to quality. The Code of Practice calls for the Free Entitlement to be at the forefront of the drive towards high quality and excellence. The reality is that the shortfall in funding puts quality at risk. Providers may be forced to minimise the financial impact of this loss of revenue by reducing services and quality. For many of us this is simply not acceptable.
Examples of the sort of things that could be affected are: reducing staff ratios where they are in excess of Ofsted requirements, stopping home cooked hot meals, reducing additional enrichment activities such as yoga, other language lessons, drama sessions and trips out, or reducing the level of qualifications of staff. We do not want to consider reducing the quality of our nurseries. Parents have chosen us for the services and activities we offer that demonstrate our commitment to high quality and excellence.
This has been an emotive subject within the childcare industry for the past 4 years and many providers have campaigned throughout the previous government’s consultation process and continue to do so now.
This campaign is intended to raise awareness amongst parents and carers about the very real threat this legislation poses to the high quality childcare provision they have chosen and value.
We invite you to join with the numerous providers already behind this campaign, to demand an immediate review of the Code of Practice to FREE CHILDCARE.
