Decision details

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services providing an update on progress on the development of the proposals for the expansion of the early year’s sector, as originally set out in the Cabinet Report of 19 March 2013.  The report will also provide formalised details of the works proposed to meet each of these expansions and seek approval to spend on the schemes.

(i)  To approve, in accordance with Financial Procedure Rules, capital expenditure of £1,361,000; phased £67,000 in 2013/14 and £1,294,000 in 2014/15, from the Children’s Services Capital Programme; and

(ii)  Subject to compliance with Contract and Finance Procedure Rules, to delegate authority to the Director of People to do anything necessary to procure and deliver the capital projects set out in Appendix 1 of this report.

1.  The Childcare Act 2006 and subsequent statutory guidance have made it a requirement for local authorities to ensure that there are sufficient free Early Years places to meet the requirements of working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in their area. The Government has also recently amended this legal requirement, with the effect of extending it to cover places for disadvantaged 2-year-olds, from September 2013 onwards.

2.  The annual Early Years sufficiency analysis indicates that there are currently enough places to provide for 3 and 4-year-olds within the City. However, the capacity within the system is currently being placed under pressure by the increase in birth rate over the last four years. As such, it is anticipated that, in order to meet its statutory duties, the Council will have to expand provision in line with the increased numbers expected as a consequence of the extension of the free places offer to disadvantaged 2-year-olds.

1.  At present, 85.5% of places for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds in Southampton are provided within the Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) sectors. The proposals contained within this report focus largely on the expansion of existing provision, which (of necessity) equates to the investment of capital grant in expanding places in the PVI sector. Discussions with providers in this sector have indicated that, whilst some have small amounts of capital available to contribute to expansions, the level of expansion required for the Council to meet its statutory duties will necessitate significant input from the local authority, both in the form of financial assistance and also in terms of project management.

2.  Assuming that the Council is to meet its duty to provide places, it does have an alternative option to market facilitation, in the form of directly providing the Early Years places itself. However, the cost of creating the infrastructure and recruiting the staff to manage this number of places would be substantially greater than supporting existing providers to expand/develop new provision. As such, this option has been rejected.