The Government has recently launched a consultation setting out their proposals on the delivery of free early education for 2-, 3- and 4-year-old children from September 2013. The consultation paper ‘Supporting families in the foundation years: Proposed changes to the entitlement to free early education and childcare sufficiency’ is available to view by following the link . The consultation, which runs until 3 February 2010, covers a range of issues that we at Free Childcare have been campaigning on for some time, such as the Code of Practice and Free Entitlement funding.
This consultation seeks views on proposals to
- Streamline statutory guidance to local authorities on the delivery of free early education and securing sufficient childcare;
- Set eligibility criteria for the new entitlement to free early education for 2-year-olds;
- Increase flexibility on when free entitlement hours can be taken; and
- Clarify eligibility requirements that providers need to meet to deliver free early education places.
The announcement follows the Government’s commitment, made by the Deputy Prime Minister in October 2010, to extend the 15 hours of free early education currently available to all 3- and 4-year-olds to disadvantaged 2-year-olds from September 2013.
This is your opportunity to feed back to the Government whether or not the Code of Practice is working for you. To review the draft proposal and respond to the proposed changes to the entitlement to Free Early Education and Childcare Sufficiency please go here.
For an explanation of what the consultation covers please click here to visit Nursery World’s online article or see page 4 of the 15-28 Nov edition of their magazine for the full article.
