Foundation Years: First children's centres to pilot payment-by-results named

Earlier this month, the Department for Education set out proposals for a £3m pilot in up to 30 areas to test how to reward children’s centres and local authorities, based on how well they reach and support vulnerable families.

Children’s centres will be rewarded on measures including children’s Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessments, the number of families that attend parenting programmes, and regular contact with the most vulnerable families.

The nine local authorities in the first wave of the trials are: Southampton, Oxfordshire, Oldham, Gloucestershire, Devon, Croydon, Blackpool, Barnsley, and Barking and Dagenham.

The Government said that it will not undertake payment by results with individual children’s centres but will expect trial local authorities to explore this in their areas.

Up to 21 other areas will be announced in the autumn. The trial areas are intended to help the Government and local authorities to develop a final set of measures, so that payment by results can be rolled out nationally from 2013-14.

A new post will also be created to help support outreach with vulnerable families through children’s centres. The outreach system leader will act as an advocate for evidence-based outreach and family support programmes.

The measures to be tested in the trial areas are: