Today (22 January), it was revealed the Department for Education had miscalculated funding for under two-year-olds as the entitlement comes in from September, while funding years are normally worked out for April-March.
The DfE mistakenly assumed it would need to fund 22 weeks between Autumn 2024 and Spring 2025, however, it has come to light that some local authorities will have more funded weeks than this due to where school holidays fall. In some local authorities, there will be 26 weeks.
To ensure ‘fairness’, the DfE has committed to funding all local authorities for 26 weeks rather than the original 22 weeks.
It says it estimates this to be a cost of £120m, but will ‘fund however much it ultimately costs.’
The National Day Nurseries Association argued that the funding must be protected so local authorities with fewer than 26 funding weeks, pass the money to providers.
It comes as the DfE announced parents who have been unable to access their codes to take up the new funding entitlement for two-year-olds from April, will be sent a temporary code to give to their childcare provider.
Shadow education Bridget Philipson raised her concerns about the codes and funding shortfall in an urgent question within the House of Commons today.
The Early Years Alliance said the Government was ‘ in denial over the scale of the early years crisis’.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said, ‘why has this issue only just been discovered? While we welcome the DfE’s response in supporting all local authorities to be able to fund 26 weeks for these two terms, nurseries have been suffering from underfunding for years. They have repeatedly been told that there is no more money. And yet the DfE says they will fund ‘however much it ultimately costs’. Suddenly the Government seems to have found £120m of extra funding to enable this.
'It’s vital that all this money is passed onto providers.
'This highlights that the whole funding system is not fit for purpose and urgently needs reviewing. It’s been set up in a way that’s so complex that neither the Government nor local authorities appear to have a full grasp, so how are parents and providers expected to know how it works and whether they are getting a fair deal?
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘Despite the fact there is just over two months until the scheme rolls out, many nurseries, pre-schools and childminders across the country still have no idea what funding rate they will receive from April, making it impossible to plan - and in some cases, commit to opting into the new offers.
‘Pretending this is all fine isn’t going to solve the problem. It’s time for Government to face reality and take the urgent steps needed to address the early years crisis once and for all.’
