1. Early Years Funding – The Leicestershire Perspective
Jenny Lawrence
Finance Business Partner –
Children and Family Services

2. Leicestershire……..
Largely rural authority, but significant pockets of Deprivation
Sparsely populated and urban areas
No maintained nursery schools
666 Providers;
362 childminders taking FEEE (20% more than last year),
304 pre-schools and day nurseries
96% Ofsted rated good or outstanding

3. Our Financial Position
Receive the Lowest DSG hourly funding rate for Early Years;
3 & 4 year olds £4.30
2 year old disadvantaged £5.20
Hourly Rates Paid to Providers;
3 & 4 Year Olds
2 Year Olds
Base Rate
£4.03
£4.93
Deprivation
£ £0.08 -
SEN Top Up
£6.99

4. Pilot authority for 30 hours extended provision
What We Deliver
Pilot authority for 30 hours extended provision
88% of pre-schools 97% of day nurseries and 56% childminders delivered 30 hours in Spring term
Take up rates;
15 hours 3 & 4 year olds 100%
30 hours 3 & 4 year olds 92%
15 hours 2 year old disadvantaged
87% autumn term 2017
77.1 % spring term 2018

5. Provider Cost Pressures
No increase in funding rates, real terms reduction
Largest cost to providers is staffing
Providers being squeezed by cost increases – National Living Wage, Pension Costs

6. Our Current Provider Market
Providers reporting financial viability issues
In closures, largely smaller providers.
In 2018 so far 9 further closures
Limited capacity for existing providers to expand
19 new providers established in 2017 and a further 9 in 2018 – net decrease overall

7. Our Current Experience
Providers are;
Keeping staffing levels at absolute minimum
Unable to release staff for training - no cover, unable to meet cost
Unable to maintain financial contingencies to ensure long term viability

8. Our Success
4,590 Children access 30 hours of Early Learning
On average children access an additional 11 hours of educational funding
Parents are choosing a blended offer of childcare
We gained recognition by DfE for the communication with providers and parents to deliver the offer

9. Our Concerns
Funding rates, decreasing in real terms are a barrier to delivering the Free Entitlement
Future quality, impact on school readiness
Reducing number of providers
Ability to meet sufficiency duty
Less choice
Parents who have children with SEND are apprehensive to use the additional hours that they may be entitled to. Leicestershire have been successful with a DfE grant to encourage parental uptake and upskilling the workforce

10. Any Questions?