The extension of the nursery education grant for three- and four-year-olds, from 33 to 38 weeks a year from 1 April, should, on the face of it, be good news for non-maintained providers. But examine the details in the Code of Practice on Nursery Education and it becomes obvious that the already far from level playing field of early years provision is likely to tilt another few degrees! The Government recommends in the code of practice that local authorities should fund each pre-school child equally, regardless of what setting they attend. But recommending is as far as it goes - the local authorities are ultimately given the discretion to award whatever amount they like. As some are already 'top-slicing' the grant, additional weeks will leave the private and voluntary sectors further out of pocket (see News, page 4).
The extension of the nursery education grant for three- and four-year-olds, from 33 to 38 weeks a year from 1 April, should, on the face of it, be good news for non-maintained providers. But examine the details in the Code of Practice on Nursery Education and it becomes obvious that the already far from level playing field of early years provision is likely to tilt another few degrees!
The Government recommends in the code of practice that local authorities should fund each pre-school child equally, regardless of what setting they attend. But recommending is as far as it goes - the local authorities are ultimately given the discretion to award whatever amount they like. As some are already 'top-slicing' the grant, additional weeks will leave the private and voluntary sectors further out of pocket (see News, page 4).
And a grant of just over 7 per two-and-a-half hour session will not cover the cost of providing the service in many cases, leaving nurseries effectively subsidising the Government's nursery education scheme. As one nursery owner points out, he is expected to provide 2006 care at 1996 prices.
What will happen when the free 'educare' offering is increased to 15 hours a week, then 20? How many non-maintained settings will decide that they just can't afford to carry on participating, even if it means losing many of their three- and four-year-olds?
