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ITEM EX14

EXECUTIVE – 16 MARCH 2004

EARLY YEARS DEVELOPMENT AND CHILDCARE/SURE START:
STRATEGIC DELIVERY PLAN 2004 – 2006

Report by Director for Learning & Culture

1. The County Council, through the former Children & Young People’s Sub-Committee, approved the Early Years Development and Childcare Strategic Plan 2001 – 2004, in February 2001. Guidance from the Department for Education & Skills for the next 2 year strategic planning period (2004 – 2006) was received in November 2003 from the recently expanded Sure Start Unit in the new integrated Children’s Services Directorate of the Department for Education & Skills. This report seeks Executive approval of the new EYDC-Sure Start Strategic Delivery Plan for 2004 – 2006. A copy of the Plan has been circulated to all members of the Council and is available for public inspection.
   
   (OEYDCP/Sure Start Strategic Delivery Plan 2004-2006 - download as .doc file)
   

Background

2. The new guidance sits within the context of the recently published Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’. Sure Start’s overall aim is to help provide the best possible start in life for all children. It plays a part in the Government’s ambition to halve child poverty by 2010. It also fits well with the County Council priorities. Childcare, when integrated with education, health and family support services at local level can contribute to sustaining our prosperity by aiding recruitment and retention of the workforce as well as enabling families to come off benefits and return to work or study. Early education, childcare and family support can help people to fulfil their potential by providing increased opportunities for children's play and learning, and by enabling more parents to return to work or study. Childcare can help the County Council to safeguard communities, by providing safe places for young people to go after school and in the holidays when their parents are at work, rather than relying on ad hoc or 'latch key' arrangements.
3. The new guidance is aimed specifically at local authorities as the bodies with responsibility for strategic planning and co-ordinating delivery. It is also relevant to other agencies and organisations including health and voluntary sector partners. In Oxfordshire these agencies are brought together through strategic partnerships such as the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and the Children’s Programme Board.
4. The Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’ has drawn attention to the vital duty to safeguard children and support them and their families. The current review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the forthcoming Best Value Review of Children’s Services in Oxfordshire highlight the need for effective preventative work and early intervention. It is precisely to ensure that all our own services are coherent and that they work in the best interests of children and families that we brought together the County Council’s early years, childcare and family centres into one service in 2002.

Main Achievements 2001 - 2004

5. This has been a period of rapid expansion of service, growth and change:

• The number of places for publicly funded education for 3 year olds has increased. The participation rate (BVPI headcount figures) has increased from 17% (Spring 2001) to 41.3% (Spring 2002) to 93% in (Spring 2004).
• The County Council has prepared for the implementation of a single point of admission for four year olds into primary schools from September 2004, including planning for investing in quality standards for the Foundation Stage, guidance and training.
• Area SENCos and Early Years Partnership Workers have significantly increased the capacity of early years settings to be inclusive of children with special needs.
• There is good take up of early years training programmes for existing practitioners.
• The total number of registered childcare places recorded by Ofsted has increased from 13,618 from September 2001 to 16,900 in June 2003, an increase of 24%.
• 7 Neighbourhood Nurseries in areas of disadvantage are due to be registered by March 2004 and open to the public by June 2004.
• Since 2001 Oxfordshire has also been particularly successful in bidding on behalf of providers for New Opportunities funding for out of school childcare. We have received a total of £3,177,403 on behalf of 244 partners to create 4690 out of school childcare places over 3 years. About 74% of these places have opened to date.
• New childcare places are being developed for children with disabilities and a new Inclusive Play Partnership brings together different agencies to co-ordinate opportunities for out of school childcare, play and leisure.
• Oxfordshire had two of the first early designated Children’s Centres (Chipping Norton and Rose Hill/Littlemore, Oxford) and now has approval of plans for two more to be developed in Blackbird Leys, Oxford and Neithrop, Banbury.
• There has been further development and demand for roll out of innovative projects such as Partnership Early Years Units, Forest Schools and a new Quality Assurance Scheme for early years and childcare settings and parenting programmes.

6. Oxfordshire also won four national awards for Partners in Excellence in early years. The first (in 2001) was for its innovative and comprehensive monitoring quality strategy for early education, developed and implemented by the Early Years Team within the School Development Service. The second award was for work in collaboration with the Learning and Skills Council and TRIO in working with employers to improve recruitment and retention and develop work–life balance policies. Several employers have bought into childcare packages for their employees – such as accredited childminder networks, which are particularly suited to the needs of businesses in rural areas. The third award was for the development of Oxfordshire Children’s Information Service. The County Council has supported an independent charity to develop this ‘one stop shop’ service which has been particularly successful and reaching out to a whole range of parents across the County. The final award was for work supporting parents undertaken with a range of voluntary and statutory agencies.

Main Challenges

7. There has been significant measurable progress in terms of expanded and improved services for children and families, but there have been many challenges, some of which remain barriers to further progress. Much of the new development work, especially in relation to childcare, is based on a complex variety of short-term funding streams. National and local allocation of resources for children under 5 remains considerably lower than for any other age group.
8. The last 3 years have seen several changes in regulation and statutory requirements such as the transfer of childcare regulation to Ofsted and the introduction of new National Care Standards. This period has also seen the implementation of a new statutory curriculum phase in the Foundation Stage, and the County Council has been preparing for implementation of early admission to primary schools.
9. In order to sustain and continue to develop early years and childcare and family support services we will need to seek the means to ensure:

• that there is sufficient investment for high quality foundation stage education in all settings and to improve quality standards, including in the private, voluntary and independent sectors;
• that we can meet increased demand for statutory support for individual children with special educational needs in order for them to access their early education place;
• that we can provide increased support for settings in how to include children with SEN ensure their needs are met;
• that we can recruit sufficient suitably trained and qualified staff at all levels;
• that childcare in disadvantaged areas is sustainable - especially childminders, Neighbourhood Nurseries and Out of School Care;
• that we can increase the opportunities for children with disabilities to benefit from childcare, play and recreation opportunities within their communities;
• the development of new partnership provision for early education, childcare and family support provision on school sites and within children’s centres;
• that there is support from appropriately qualified staff to enable practitioners to take account of the needs of younger children (birth to 3) in rapidly expanding day nurseries and children’s centres;
• that Sure Start, early years, childcare, health and family support services are embedded into the mainstream fabric of communities across the County;
• that implementation of the Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’ and the Best Value Review of Children’s Services includes strategies for strengthening work with other agencies in terms of identification and support for children at risk, and providing prevention and early intervention services at a stage when they can be most beneficial in terms of long term outcomes for educational achievement, social care, community safety, health and well-being.

10. The proposals set out in the EYDC/Sure Start Delivery Plan 2004 - 2006 have been developed in consultation with the multi-agency Task Groups of the Early Years Development & Childcare Partnership and the Divisional Early Years District Liaison Panels, focus groups with parents and black and ethnic minority communities. A first draft of the Plan has been discussed by the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and the Health & Social Care and Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committees are considering the Plan at their meetings on 3 and 9 March. Their advice and comments will be reported at the meeting.

Financial Implications

11. The majority of costs for the infrastructure to support new early years and childcare services are met from direct grants such as the general Sure Start Grant (see Appendix VI of the Plan).
12. Existing resources will be used to target priorities for family support and development around Children’s Centres and for integrated early years and childcare services in areas of identified need.
13. The County Council has agreed additional investment in the quality of foundation stage provision in schools as part of the proposals for implementation of the single point of admission in September 2004.
14. From April 2004 the local authority rather than the New Opportunities Fund has responsibility for disbursement of start up grants for out of school childcare. The schemes for these and for other grants available to community groups are outlined in Appendix Vll of the Plan.
15. From 2004 the local authority will have a statutory duty to ensure sufficiency of places for all 3 year olds to access their entitlement to a funded half time place. Take up of places cannot be accurately predicted, but is carefully monitored in each term. The current take level for this year for 3 year olds is 76% (the budget estimate was for 78%). The County Council budget for 2004/05 includes funds to meet agreed universal target of 85% take up of places for 3 year olds. The change to single point of admission in September 2004 will increase the availability of places for 3 year olds. Should there be a lower than 85% take up of places, in-year surpluses will be used to support sustainability of small voluntary settings, particularly in rural areas, which may be at risk during the transition to the single point of admission.

RECOMMENDATION

16. The Executive is RECOMMENDED, subject to taking into account any advice and comment of the Social & Health Care and Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committees and the Early Years Development & Childcare Partnership, to approve the proposals set out in the Early Years Development & Childcare/Sure Start Strategic Delivery Plan for 2004 – 2006.

KEITH BARTLEY
Director for Learning & Culture

Background papers: • Sure Start Guidance 2004 – 2006 Overview and local delivery arrangements – DfES Publication reference SSGuidce0402

• Oxfordshire Early Years Development and Childcare Plan 2001 – 2004

• Oxfordshire Children’s Centre Strategy – available from Katie Bailey 01865 815697

• Oxfordshire Local Preventative Strategy - available from Sarah Ainsworth tel: 01865 815892

• Children’s fund Plan – available from Alison Partridge, Children’s Fund Manager

Contact Officer: Annie Davy, tel 01865 815493

March 2004

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