Nursery World - LSE warns against funding formula roll-out

A study by the London School of Economics is warning that introducing a new early years national funding formula at the same time as the 30 hours will cause ‘turbulence’ in the sector and could threaten the sustainability of some settings.

The research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, addressed the history and local implementation of early years funding policy, drawing conclusions which relate to the new Early Years National Funding Formula proposals.

Co-author Dr Philip Noden said that before the consultation document was published, ‘My main conclusion would have been don’t introduce a national funding formula at the same time as the 30 hours.

‘There’s a degree of disruption and complexity doing the two things alongside each other that will cause a lot of problems.’

He said that the purpose of introducing a national funding formula has been transformed by the promise of 30 hours.

The plan to introduce a single base rate will cause disruption, because currently two-thirds of local authorities use more than one base rate, he said.

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