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Free guide to early years changes published
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Dec 19, 2016The Pre-school Learning Alliance has published a free guide to early years funding and delivery changes.
The guide,which is available to download at , will be sent to all Alliance members with the January edition of Under 5 magazine. Non-members will be able to receive a free copy of the guide on request.
This new guide provides an update on changes to the early years funding system 鈥 including how local authority funding rates have been calculated, how local funding formulas will work, and changes to SEND support 鈥 as well as an overview of the general principles around the delivery of the free entitlement offer and the rules around eligibility for the 30-hour offer. It also includes a timeline of when key changes are due to be implemented.
鈥淣ext year is going to see several significant changes to the way that early years provision in this country is both funded and delivered. As it stands, however, there鈥檚 a lot of misinformation and confusion on what is changing and when," said Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch.
鈥淪ome providers, for example, aren鈥檛 aware that local authorities only have to move to a universal base rate from 2019. Others aren鈥檛 clear that parents don鈥檛 actually have to work for 16 hours per week to be eligible for the 30-hour offer 鈥 they only have to earn the equivalent of 16 hours work at national living or minimum wage.
鈥淲ith so much information from government coming so late in the day, we felt it was vital to provide clear, accessible guidance for early years providers trying to prepare for next year," he added. "Given that many of the impending changes are likely to have a substantial impact on those offering the free entitlement, we also felt it was important to make the guide available for free to the whole sector, not just Alliance members. We hope that providers will find the guide useful, and we will continue working to keep the sector informed throughout 2017 and beyond.鈥