Disadvantaged children less likely to access funded places
By Rachel Lawler
Children in the most deprived areas of England are less likely to access funded early education and childcare, according to the latest from the (NAO).
The NAO says that while the total amount of funding for the government’s childcare offers has increased by 24% in real terms since 2016-17, due to the introduction of the 30-hours offer, funding for disadvantaged children and universal entitlements has fallen by 4% in the same period.
15 hours offer
The NAO highlighted the falling percentage of eligible families taking up the 15-hours offer for disadvantaged two-year-olds, with just 68% accessing a place in 2019. This is below the government's own target of 73-77% take-up.
The report also found significant variations across regions, with some local authorities seeing just 39% of two-year-olds accessing their place and others as many as 97%. Eligible families in deprived areas were less likely to access the offer.
Funding concerns
The report noted that disadvantaged families were also impacted by providers needing to charge families for meals and extra hours alongside the funded offer. The NAO highlighted a survey conducted by the Department for Education (DfE) in 2018 that found that 74% of early years providers were charging families for items such as meals or extra activities and noted that this generally has a bigger impact on disadvantaged families.
The NAO says that there is "conflicting evidence" on whether funding rates cover providers' costs. However, it noted that limitations in the DfE's analysis meant that it "potentially under-stated the average hourly cost" of providing a funded place.
Improving take-up
The NAO has recommended that the DfE makes better use of available data to understand geographic variations in take-up of funding entitlements and work with local authorities to develop a better understanding of the approaches that work best in increasing take-up among disadvantaged families.
It also recommended that the DfE "strengthen its evidence base" on the cost of providing childcare.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Families with young children across the country are benefiting from their entitlement to free early education and childcare places, which aim to prepare children for school and improve their life chances.
“However, if these entitlements are to help level the playing field, it is essential that more disadvantaged children benefit from high-quality childcare. DfE should do more to ensure that all disadvantaged families are aware of the free childcare on offer and are able to access it.”
Substantial investment
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, commented: “The NAO is right to highlight the shortcomings of current childcare policy when it comes to supporting disadvantaged families.
“Despite all the government’s talk of improving social mobility, the fact is that wealthier families are much more likely to benefit from so-called ‘free childcare’ than those from disadvantaged backgrounds. As such, it’s clear that the government must do much more to ensure that all families are not only aware of their childcare options, but also able to actually access affordable, quality places.
“With early years funding levels still woefully inadequate, many childcare providers are being forced to increase private fees or charge more for additional goods and services in order to stay afloat – meaning that for many families in need, ‘free childcare’ is anything but.
“As such, we welcome the NAO’s call on the government to make sure that early years funding levels are sufficient, and crucially, that they take into account future delivery costs rises. However much the government chooses to pretend otherwise, substantial investment into the early years is needed to ensure that the sector remains sustainable in the long term, and that providers are able to provide support to those families who need it most.”
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