Lets go back to 15th March 2023. There is talk on the grape vine that during the Chancellor’s budget there will be an announcement on the expansion of the free childcare offer. All childcare providers and parents waited with bated breath to see what the announcement could be. Jeremy Hunt ends his budget with a huge childcare announcement that will affect millions of people across the country. “So today I announce that in eligible households where all adults are working at least 16 hours, we will introduce 30 hours of free childcare not just for 3-and-4-year-olds, but for every single child over the age of 9 months. The 30 hours offer will now start from the moment maternity or paternity leave ends." For thousands of parents this is welcome news but for providers it brings a multitude of questions and concerns.
There is no denying that the expansion of the free childcare offer will provide many more families with affordable childcare and will bring more children into early years settings but there continues to be an ongoing issue for childcare providers. This issue is funding or lack of funding. Since 2018 - when I began working as Manager at Lechlade Little
Learners the hourly funding rate that providers have received from Gloucestershire County Council has increased by 24% (2018-2023). This sounds like a significant increase but when you see the National Minimum Wage in that same time has increased by 33% then the gap begins to widen. As an early years provider, we want to offer the best possible care and education to the children in our setting, but this comes at a cost. To meet the statutory framework we must abide by ratios (staff: no children) along side maintaining a safe and secure environment. These ratios depend in the age of the children and the level of qualification of the practitioner. Therefore within those ratios, qualifications of staff play a vital part and having good quality staff comes with a cost.
As well as the increasing staffing costs there is also the cost of running a setting and, as we all know and have all felt the pinch over the last few years, costs are continuing to increase. The Department of Education states “Government funding is intended to cover the cost to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare.” The reality is that the funding we receive is not sufficient to meet these intentions therefore we are working at a loss. Free childcare simply doesn't exist.
The ongoing, chronic underfunding from the government is having a detrimental effect on so many settings. Ofsted reports that registered providers have been steadily falling since 2016. Between August 2022 and August 2023, 3,320 (5%) providers closed their
doors resulting in the total number of early years places being down 17,800.* With continued low funding rates, it’s clear that more providers will be closing their doors unless there is a significant change. A recent survey conducted by The Early Years Alliance revels that 24% of the settings they surveyed believe that it is likely or very likely their setting will close in the next 12months.** Only recently there have been local providers not far from Lechlade announcing closures. And with every closure less children are receiving early education.
As a small setting Lechlade Little Learners is certainly feeling the pinch and now with the new 2024 funding in place we will go from being 75% funded children to almost 100%. This means we will solely rely on government funding and brings uncertainty and worry as we move forward. It means that we have to try and cut costs somewhere without compromising the children’s early education and care - but also ensure our hardworking staff team also get the appreciation and pay they so rightly deserve. We want to continue to open our doors for years to come and give the best start to children’s education.
Lechlade Little Learners has been part of the local area for over 50 years. We have seen hundreds if not thousands of children learn, develop, and create lasting friendships. We have children attend whose parents previously attended. We are an integral part of Lechlade life, and we will fight to remain here. The government may continue to underfund us and other fantastic settings up and down the country, but we will not let it stop us being the best we can be.
Blog written by Hazel Adamson (Preschool Manager)