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The DfE is to launch a tender for a two-year contract to support the 30-hours free childcare initiative, on which it plans to spend approximately £3 million.

 

It will look for a national organisation or consortium to help the 152 local authorities in the country to implement the scheme.

 

An invitation to tender will be issued on 6 June with bids open until 1 July, and the contract is expected to run from 1 August 2016 until August 2018.

 

“We want to ensure that parents are able to access their entitlement quickly and conveniently in a way that supports their working patterns and the needs of their child,” the DfE said in a document announcing the tender.

 

“The implementation of this new programme will create several challenges and we will need LAs and providers to work closely together to ensure sufficiency of places.”

 

It also highlighted that it would provide business support for childcare providers in areas of deprivation, saying: “Such support would target particular local sufficiency issues, ensuring business models are sustainable and provide maximum value for money for parents and taxpayers.”

 

Responsibilities of the successful organisation will include monitoring the early implementer pilots, sharing information with the DfE on progress, supporting LAs to provide suitable access to the scheme for children with SEND and developing approaches to check the eligibility for those receiving the extra hours.

 

There will be an opportunity to extend the winner’s contract for an extra year after August 2018 but the DfE has said that this “is not guaranteed at this stage and will be dependent on government priorities at the time”.