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RESOLVED:
 
Cabinet is recommended to agree
that:
 
1. 
A 12 week
statutory consultation and engagement period on the restructuring
of early education and childcare provision delivered by the
children’s centres funded by the Council to deliver
subsidised childcare, as a means to achieving greater
efficiency.  The consultation is
scheduled to commence on 31 January to 24 April
2024.
 
2. 
Following
the conclusion of the consultation, to consider the results of the
consultation and recommendations on the restructuring of early
education and childcare provision.
 
REASONS FOR DECISION
 
The Childcare Act 2006 at s5(d) imposes a legal duty on a
Local Authority to consult before making any significant change in
the services provided through a children’s centre and before
anything is done that would result in a children’s centre
being closed.
 
The purpose of the consultation is to propose changes to
the way children’s centres deliver early education and
childcare in the future.  The reason for
the proposed change is to improve the sustainability of the
centres.  If we do not make changes, the
current deficit of £1.07m across the children’s centres
is likely to continue to increase. If we do not make decisions now,
it may mean more far-reaching proposals at a later date. Making
unpopular decisions now is intended to reset the way early
education and childcare is delivered in order to achieve greater
efficiency, and maximise opportunities to increase occupancy to
maintain viability. 
 
The consultation is intended to give service users, staff
and anybody impacted by the remodelling of the service, an
opportunity to shape the proposals. 
 
DETAILS OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND
REJECTED
 
The option to significantly increase fees to recover a
greater portion of expenditure if implemented, may discourage
families from accessing the children’s centre provision, and
therefore have a negative impact on occupancy. The provision may
also become affordable to higher income families at the exclusion
of lower income families.  We have seen
a reduction in higher income families since introducing the new fee
bands and post Covid. For this reason
this option is not being acted on as suggested. Instead, annual
increases to nursery fees will continue to be subject to inflation
and in doing so will continue to significantly taper the subsidy to
higher fee bands. 
 
Opportunities identified during the review in collaboration
with a stakeholder reference group to test and refine 3 levers to
reduce expenditure, increase income and refine the model are set
out in the executive summary of the E&Y Report: Appendix 1,
attached to the exempt appendices section of this
report. 
 
As part of the SEND Strategy 2022-25, and the Early Years
Strategy 2021-26, one centre in the north of the borough is in
scope to reprovision by 2025 into an
Additional Resource Provision (ARP) to support children with
complex needs.  Respondents to the
recent 2023 Children and Family Hubs consultation commented on SEND
provision and support needed for children and their
families.  The intention is to align the
ARP with best SEND practice in accordance with the requirements of
the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), and replace subsidised childcare
places with term time funded 15 and 30 hours Early Years
Entitlement places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds with additional needs,
alongside mainstream children.