An investigation by Nursery World into the impact of cuts to early years capital funding has found many providers left in a state of crisis and at risk of closure.
While a clear picture is only just beginning to emerge of how the cuts to the Sure Start Early Years and Childcare Grant (SSEYCG) are playing out across the country, providers from all sectors have told Nursery World that they have been left in a state of limbo with projects frozen or scrapped.
Five settings in Essex alone have warned that they will be forced to close if they do not receive the capital funding they were promised. This figure, however, could well be the tip of the iceberg, as the 15 other Essex-based settings that have had their projects halted have not spoken publicly about the implications.
The SSEYCG, a three-year programme running from 2008 to 2011, was set up to help local authorities deliver the Government's ten-year childcare strategy. The capital funding was split into two pots: one for Phase 3 children's centres and the second, known as the Early Years Capital Grant or the Quality and Access Grant, which was mainly aimed at the private and voluntary sector (PVI), although maintained settings could be awarded funding if it would help to address gaps in sufficiency.
However, the scheme has turned sour for settings where contracts for projects have not yet been put in place after the Department for Education told local authorities in July to put on hold any funding that was not fully committed (News, 22 July). While some areas, such as Hampshire, Kirklees and Norfolk, have been given a revised figure from the DfE regarding their capital funding grant, other areas, including Essex, are still waiting to hear what their revised allocation is.
The delay is another source of anxiety for providers, because under DfE guidelines, all capital projects have to be completed by 31 March 2011.
LOCAL IMPACT
A DfE spokesperson said, 'Essex has not yet been notified of its revised allocation because we are still in discussion with them about a number of issues. We will notify them of their revised allocation as soon as possible. Once the revised allocations have been issued, it is for the local authority to decide how to use this funding and which projects to support, based on their local priorities.'
In the last two weeks, Nursery World has reported on two Essex-based settings that could be forced to close if they do not receive the funding they were promised (News, 23 September). This week, it emerged that a further two community pre-schools and one private nursery in Essex will also be facing closure.
Elsenham and Flitch Green pre-schools have both already vacated their former premises, as the buildings were no longer suitable. Bell Nursery, the only setting in its locality to offer baby places, has to find an alternative building because developers have purchased the land it currently occupies with a view to building residential properties. The setting has already had to vacate its former baby room and is renting a demountable building on a short-term basis.
Neil Leitch, acting chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, says, 'Both Flitch Green and Elsenham pre-schools are based in rural, village communities where many parents either do not drive or do not have access to a car during the day. All three of these cases will have a huge impact on the sufficiency for the areas in which they are situated, as they have demonstrated high, if not full occupancy, and there are no other provisions in the area.'
PLACE SHORTAGES
Further question marks over childcare sufficiency have been raised in local authority areas such as Kirklees, which has been told it faces cuts of £1.5m to its Sure Start Early Years and Childcare Grant. The cuts are set to impact on around 80 childcare providers from the PVI and maintained sectors.
Ursula Spencer is manager of the 40-place Brownhill Playgroup in Birstall, West Yorkshire, which was due to receive £320,000 under the scheme for a new building. She says, 'We will have to close down if we do not get a new building. I think that we can only hang on here for another year. Our current building, which is a community hall, is in a state of disrepair and it is too limited in what we can offer to children. We don't have a nappy changing area, or a quiet area, we don't have children's toilets, and we don't have space to offer a breakfast or holiday club.
'We cannot offer the kind of flexible provision the Government wants. The Government does not understand that that there is a shortage of pre-school provision in our locality and we are the main feeder for our local infant school.'
Bev Senior, a childminder in Goldcar, Huddersfield, who looks after three children under the age of five, applied for £4,845 of new play equipment. Ms Senior told Nursery World that she had been assured by officials that her application was likely to succeed. But along with 40 other childminders and around 40 other settings from the PVI and maintained sectors, she has now been informed that she will receive nothing.
'I applied for the funding as I need to replace most of my play equipment,' says Ms Senior. 'I have been a childminder for 22 years and most of my equipment is old. People don't realise that childminders have to pay for all of this equipment out of our wages. When we do buy things, we can't afford things that are good quality. This funding was to encourage us to buy good quality equipment.'
Ms Senior and nine other childminders from the Kirklees area have gathered more than 200 signatures for a petition against the cuts.
In Oxfordshire, Jane Kelly, owner and manager of Stepping Stone Day Nursery and Nursery School, which looks set to miss out on £100,000 towards an extension, describes the cuts as a false economy. She says, 'I have spent a fortune on traffic surveys, planning and architects. It has taken up so much of my time and has cost a lot of money. What is crazy is that there are apparently thousands of children in Oxfordshire without pre-school places. If the council gave us the £100,000, we could offer an additional 32 pre-school places, whereas it would cost at least £1m to build a new pre-school. It makes no sense.'
Oxfordshire County Council faces cuts of £2.75m to its capital funding, which has affected 26 projects.
Neil Leitch at the PLA says, 'These cuts paint a very gloomy picture of arms-length decisions being made by central government. These politicians don't seem to have any idea of the impact of these cuts at a local level. From a legal perspective, you would think that a verbal contract would be good enough to be viewed as a commitment to these projects, but different criteria seems to apply when the Government is involved. I am just worried that the consequences of these decisions at a grassroots level are not being understood.'
A spokesperson for the DfE said it was not possible to provide a breakdown of the cuts per local authority area as revised allocations are still being confirmed.
CASE STUDY
Deborah Martin is owner of Whistlestop Day Nursery in New Milton, Hampshire, which was to receive £550,000 for a new building. She has been told that she will no longer receive the funding as Hampshire County Council faces cuts of £3,790,000, which could lead to 18 projects being scrapped.
'I was awarded the funding because I opened up the provision to provide longer opening hours and all year round care for all ages, and - because of pressure put on me to do so - I started offering baby places in the local children's centre last September,' says Ms Martin.
'I actually lost money by doing this, but the carrot at the end was the brand new building. I was to have a service agreement with Hampshire County Council to offer wide-ranging nursery provision, including 12 baby places, and the nursery was going to be a 40-place setting.
'I have had to move the baby places from the children's centre to the main nursery now, because the children's centre subsequently needed its premises for other uses, and this has turned the whole setting topsy-turvy. I am still making a loss on the baby places and I would never have gone into offering them if we hadn't been promised the new building to accommodate it all properly.
'We feel like we are falling over ourselves because there is not really enough room, although we have worked hard to make it inviting. It's a massive headache and it has already taken up two and a half years of my life.'
CONFIRMED CUTS:
Norfolk - £5m
Kirklees - £1.5m
Oxfordshire - £2.75m
Hampshire - £3.8m
