Opinion: To the Point - Speak now on funding

The final Code of Practice for a flexible Free Early Years Entitlement will determine how you deliver flexibility and will influence the agreement between you, as a provider, and your local authority, over the allocation of extra funding for quality.

The consultation on the draft code closes on 8 January 2010. The 15-hour offer becomes universal from September 2010. But the changes needed to deliver it are starting now, and you must get involved in sharing your views.

For example, do you agree that your local authority should use the Early Years Quality Improvement Support Programme (EYQISP) to make funding decisions? The consultation process promotes this approach, but some nurseries will not yet be familiar with EYQISP and will need to share what approach they think would be best for them locally.

There are positive points in the code, including an emphasis on partnership working with local authorities when determining what a flexible offer will look like. The consultation also questions if you feel that the two patterns forming the 'core offer' of hours that parents can expect within their area, plus two further proposed ones, are realistic and appropriate.

It is also important to equip yourself with knowledge to inform your business planning, and understand what your local authority should be doing to implement the offer, how you can work with them to ensure this process is effective and the implications for your business.

Feeding in your views need not be time-consuming. NDNA is running a national event for all its members to discuss the code with Government representatives, and members can also share their views via a simple online survey within the 'factsheets' section at www.ndna.org.uk. All members have also been sent a short factsheet outlining important parts of the code.

Fairer funding for delivery of free sessions remains an issue, and NDNA continues to highlight the difficulties a significant number of providers face. It is essential that the entitlement is free to the parent and to the provider. It is unacceptable that providers subsidise the free entitlement. NDNA is monitoring the impact of the Early Years Single Funding Formula and calling for action if it does not make the free entitlement more sustainable for nurseries from spring.

We believe it is vital that all providers continue to share what is working - and what is not working - so that we can achieve a fairer and more equitable free entitlement system.