The Out of School Alliance, which represents members at more than 3,000 clubs nationally, made the comments following the Department for Education’s release of its consultation response this week.
Draft guidance issued in December set out how a policy giving parents ‘rights to request’ childcare before and after-school might work.
However according to the response, schools will have the power to reject the requests on a number of grounds.
Clare Freeman, the Alliance’s director, said, ‘Our general feeling was that the whole approach of the draft guidance was incorrect and ill-informed about how out of school clubs actually operate.
‘We don't expect that the final guidance document will be of much help to parents or providers, as it will mostly say that schools are free to make up their own rules.
‘Clearly the final guidance document has not been published yet.
‘But looking at the government's response to the feedback it appears it's going to be quite wishy-washy at best, and at worst will give ammunition to schools looking for reasons to refuse requests for facilitating wraparound childcare on their premises.’
Three basic ‘reasonable circumstances’ were outlined in the draft guidance, which could allow schools to veto requests.
They were:
- No space available or plans to use the available space for key educational purposes – and no other local providers or schools with whom partnership arrangements could be made;
- A low level of demand so that the provision would not be viable – with no nearby schools interested in collaborating to reach a critical mass; and
- Unsuitable space that cannot reasonably be adapted.
Some 57 per cent of the 126 respondents said there were yet further grounds beyond these.
Regarding demand, the Alliance stated in its consultation response, ‘The suggestion in para 23 that 20 filled places are necessary to make provision sustainable is both inaccurate and misleading.
‘Misleading because if you include a specific number in the guidance document then schools are likely to take this as "fact" and refuse to consider providing childcare if a lower number of requests is received.’
There are ‘so many variables involved in the costs of running a club,’ added the organisation.
‘Many clubs can be viable with fewer children – it all depends on how much the provider (ie the school or a third party) has to pay for rent and staffing costs.
‘If premises can be made available at very low cost, then clearly a provider needs far fewer children on their books in order to break even.’
It argued that the threshold ‘doesn’t take into account the true nature of setting up childcare provision of this type’, and that ‘experience has shown that demand for the childcare may be low in the initial months but tends to grow steadily over the school year’.
It continued, ‘Therefore a club which might not appear to be financially viable when it first opens, can often turn out to be self-sustaining within a reasonable period of time.
‘If the school chooses to invite a third party provider to supply the childcare in response to parent demands, it should be up to the provider to decide whether they think that a club can be viable over the long term.
‘Many providers run at a small loss or only break even in the first year, but expect to go into profit in their second year.’
The DfE responded, ‘Schools will take the lead in managing the “rights to request” processes and the final decisions about what action to take.
‘However, it is important that schools are transparent in managing parental requests and that requests are not rejected unduly.
‘We looked carefully at the suggestions of additional grounds to reject parent requests, and the guidance has been changed to include: suitable alternative provision in the local area; and school is in special measures or has serious weaknesses.’
Regarding the consulation in general, the response states, ‘Overall, there was broad support for the guidance from all categories of respondent. The consultation produced a wide range of detailed feedback and suggestions.
‘Responses have been carefully analysed and considered.
‘We believe that the changes made to the guidance appropriately address the issues raised and do not add further burdens to schools or local authorities.’
Childcare providers provided 25 per cent of responses.
The final guidance is due for publication in the summer term, with the ‘rights to request’ to be introduced at the start of the autumn term, this year.
