Important message about 2,3 and 4 year old funding

[FussyElmo]

Our las has set up meeting for all good and above cms so they can explain it to them how to get the funding etc etc. Hardly anyone has booked on to them. On our network only 16 out of the 40 are accredited.

Total apathy around - the person who is in charge of the funding wants cms in the forefront of the 2yos but...............

[Simona]

Our las has set up meeting for all good and above cms so they can explain it to them how to get the funding etc etc. Hardly anyone has booked on to them. On our network only 16 out of the 40 are accredited.

Total apathy around - the person who is in charge of the funding wants cms in the forefront of the 2yos but...............

My LA asked non network cms to apply to go on a waiting list for the 2 year old funding....out of 290 non network cms only 10 put their name down

Yes apathy seems to prevail and many cms are not bothered because the funding is below their fees and many have not got a clue what has been happening for the last year

The LAs are responsible to cover all 2 year olds who need funding...up to them to chase cms not the other way round
Some 50,000+ 2 yo still have no place in September...the LAs will be accountable to the DfE not cms

We fought the ratio issue with passion when it did not really matter to us ...now this matter is really important to cms and we have apathy

No cm can be forced to act or campaign on the funding...totally up to them and apathy will encourage LAs to do as they like

Sorry if I sound cross....puzzled is more appropriate!

[tori4]

I am with Wiltshire Council and they are brilliant we just had 2 evening courses last week on how to claim the funding.
3 and 4 year old funding is for Satisfactory,Good and Outstanding though Satisfactory Childminders must be shown to be working towards good.Only good and Outstanding Childminders can claim for 2 year olds.
Very helpful

Sorry Barbarella same LA and I have been cleared for 2yr old funding with a very out of date satisfactory but not allowed to claim 3-4yr. :-0 ! Plus some CM had to complete full accreditation inc fccers and level 3 safeguarding course.

Glad to see the consistency thro same LA is working well :-))

[4365]

Well Northamptonshire are saying nothing and failing to respond to my emails at the moment. Doesn't surprise me at all. I am now going throught their complaints process and will contact PACEY and the DFE if I haven't got a satisfactory answer by the end of the day. Fingers crossed!

[Simona]

Well Northamptonshire are saying nothing and failing to respond to my emails at the moment. Doesn't surprise me at all. I am now going throught their complaints process and will contact PACEY and the DFE if I haven't got a satisfactory answer by the end of the day. Fingers crossed!

I have contacted Pacey and tweeted to them that we need support on this
Have sent various messages to the DfE
Discussed our concerns with Hempsalls this morning (they are in charge of helping the LAs roll out the funding)
Have emailed my LA several times and at last I got this message:

''Daycare Trust is running a business and finance support session for those of you who are taking, or planning to take funded 2 year olds. Childminders need to be rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted to be take part in the 2 year old placement programme.



The session will cover:

· Overview of business planning (using a business planning template)

· Why financial planning is important

· Principles of financial planning & management

· Key elements of and documents relating to financial planning & management

· Calculating occupancy and vacancies across the week

· Cashflow forecasts and monthly budgets

· Break even pricing'' (end)

So I have now booked myself on a session and can't wait to be taught how to run my business when I could be getting less than my fees and not cover costs...I am intrigued what 'break even pricing' is?

[tashaleee]

Page 10 Section A3 Quality

A3.1 Providers who deliver the EYFS
A3.2 Fund a provider based on the Ofsted judgement
A3.3 Fund any provider Good or o's

The guidance needs to be read together with More Affordable Childcare
Look at page 17 2.39
page 18 2.41

Some LAs are responding, in fact have responded a while back and allowed cms to be included
If the message is clear to some it has to be clear to all...even my LA has now realised all good/o's cms are in this

I did say straight away the guidance is not very clear but it is also NOT unclear: musts and should need to be challenged
I am also waiting to see if Pacey step in and have asked the DfE

Thanks I have rung my LA who didnt have a clue so now put it in writing and will let you know what they say

[4365]

Well good old Northamptonshire will not release details until the next Early Years bulletin which is due on 30th August! How helpful is that? No chance of any childminder getting funded children (unless already accredited) under the new guidance for sept is there. Again childminders can't compete with other settings unless they do much more paperwork than them.

So I am going through their complaints process. I have emailed the Northamptonshire Childminding Association asking for support and for them to speed up the process. I have emailed Pacey as I think they should be sending all LAs their legal adviser's interpretation of what LAs should be/should not be doing so barriers are removed and they must push for this to be done very quickly as it is their members businesses that are suffering. I have also asked my LA how to recoup lost earnings if parents go with other providers in Sept because childminders cannot guarantee that funding can be used by them. I have asked Pacey to back this up too as they should be representing us and helping to sustain our businesses.

I think some LAs will only respond correctly if their is a possible financial penalty for not doing so. Somewhere down the line I would expect Pacey to start legal proceedings with any LA that tries to duck their duties.

So each email took about 15 mins. Can everyone help people like Simona and push the LAs, local associations and professional associations and DFE (they are next on my list!) to get this guidance implemented quickly and fully. They won't listen to one individual only all of us banging on. Pretty please?

Anni

[Simona]

SUCCESS!!!
The DfE has responded and unfortunately for the LAs they have no right to impose conditions....no need for accreditation, belong to a network or have Level 3....yes we were right!!!...some conditions can be imposed on satisfactory providers but read below and you will see the reason why

This is the DfE reply:

''The guidance says that local authorities should fund places for three and four year olds at any provider judged ‘satisfactory’ ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted (assuming there is an eligible three or four year old at the provider).

The position is different for two year olds. ‘Good’ or ‘outstanding’ providers should be funded to deliver places if there is an eligible two year old taking up their place at that provider. However, places for two year olds should only be funded in ‘satisfactory’ providers if there are insufficient accessible places in ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ providers.

There is nothing in the guidance which prevents local authorities funding places for three and four year olds if the provider chooses not to offer funded places for two year olds.

Local authorities should limit the conditions they place on ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ providers to those set out in the guidance, that is, those which guard against the misappropriation of public funds, ensure that funded places are completely free of charge to parents, support flexible delivery of places, meet the needs of children with disabilities or special needs and keep children safe.

Although local authorities can place conditions on ‘satisfactory’ providers any conditions should be limited to those which address concerns raised by Ofsted at inspection, which will of course vary between providers.

Where the guidance talks about providers, this means childminders as much as it does group settings. There is no requirement that childminders must be accredited, be part of a network or be qualified to level 3 in order to receive funding. The decision whether to fund a provider should be based on the Ofsted inspection judgement as set out above.''(end)

This should clarify the matter once and for all, please ensure you can argue this with your LA
I was also asked to direct any further questions to someone who is the expert in the funding at the DfE...this email has been copied to her...not Truss but I did tweet to her too that we have trouble with our LAs!!!

If you still have problems keep posting...we have started this campaign we may as well continue fighting it until we get what is now a right for cms to do: deliver funding if we wish to do so!
If you are still to meet with your LA and get some waffle....quote the message above!

Thank you for ALL your contributions!

Pacey have retweeted my request for their support to cms but nothing more but I will take it further if we still meet barriers!

[4365]

Thanks Simona - that's very useful. I have sent this to my list of organisations I am complaining to and have contacted the DFE about Northamptonshire too.

[madredann]

Still not getting any answers from my LEA in Warwickshire could someone help me word an e-mail to them im not even sure that I have been speaking to the right people I rang Warwickshire County Council and asked them about it who put me through to someone who is going to pass my details on to an advisor. Maybe I should of got in touch with the Family Information Service who seem to have information of the providers that provide NEF?

[Simona]

Still not getting any answers from my LEA in Warwickshire could someone help me word an e-mail to them im not even sure that I have been speaking to the right people I rang Warwickshire County Council and asked them about it who put me through to someone who is going to pass my details on to an advisor. Maybe I should of got in touch with the Family Information Service who seem to have information of the providers that provide NEF?

It is the EY dept you need to approach
What better words do you need than those from the DfE email?

If you want write to the DfE itself ..the more letters they get the better on this subject...their email is
ministers@education.gsi.gov.uk
put c/o Funding dept..it will get there

[AgentTink]

Still not getting any answers from my LEA in Warwickshire could someone help me word an e-mail to them im not even sure that I have been speaking to the right people I rang Warwickshire County Council and asked them about it who put me through to someone who is going to pass my details on to an advisor. Maybe I should of got in touch with the Family Information Service who seem to have information of the providers that provide NEF?

I have just had a look on your LA's websire, and i think it is this FIS you need to contact if you dont have a early years team.

Here is a copy of the email i sent to mine if you would like to have a read and use as you wish

Dear xx

I hope you don't mind me emailing you direct, however I have a few questions/concerns in regards to proposals that have been made in the last day or so in regards to Early Years and Childcare, and I thought it best to direct them straight to yourself.


I am a childminder who is currently going through the accreditation process.


After reading and digesting More Affordable Childcare and the document Early Education and Childcare - Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities, I now have some questions/concerns that i was wondering if you would be able to answer for me, or be able to take away and ask the questions to the relevant people.



1) More Affordable Childcare states 'All good and outstanding childminders and nurseries will automatically be eligible to receive government early education funding from September', and Early Education and Childcare - Statutory Guidance for Local Authority says "A3.2 Base their decision whether to fund a provider to deliver early education places solely on the provider’s Ofsted inspection judgement, and not undertake a separate assessment of the quality of the provider." Does this mean that I no longer need to complete the accreditation process? Can you confirm that i will be able to offer the 2 year old funding from September 2013, without the need to inspected by Sefton?


2) Will you be organising any sort of briefing/newsletter detailing what the changes in More Affordable Childcare will mean to childminders and Early Years Team? How soon will this be, as there is now only 6/7 weeks until September? Will there be any briefing on how to claim the funded hours/what paperwork may be required and how the system works?



3) How will the local Health Visitor Teams/Family Services know that I can offer these places and have spaces available? Will there be a central database that I can access to make sure my details are accurate and up-to-date?

4) I am aware that there is funding available for resources for this 2 year old proposition, so am I now able to send in my application form, because if these changes happen from September 2013, I will be offering spaces?

5) Going forward how do you envisage childminders being supported with training and guidance, since the above documents both talk about the fact that the LA can no longer set as a requirement that outstanding or good providers attend training, and that most of the early years resources should be directed to satisfactory/requirements improvement settings?

I am sorry for so many questions, however I am sure you can appreciate, with such short timescales being proposed for all of this to be implemented, I am worried that as a childminder/lone worker I may be left out of the loop, and I wanted to make sure that childminders are not forgotten in the rush of the proposals being discussed with the health visitor teams/Family service.

[madredann]

Thank you I have just e-mailed FIS and will be following it up with a phone call in the morning x

[catlyn]

County Durham are brilliant,..we have had briefing sessions to tell us all about the new 2 year old funding and our EY team are very keen for childminders to provide the places for these children....there will be a shortage of spaces in our area so all childminders with a good or above have been invited to apply..we were all given posters and info sheets to hand to parents and display in our windows...cant fault them really ...well done

[Simona]

County Durham are brilliant,..we have had briefing sessions to tell us all about the new 2 year old funding and our EY team are very keen for childminders to provide the places for these children....there will be a shortage of spaces in our area so all childminders with a good or above have been invited to apply..we were all given posters and info sheets to hand to parents and display in our windows...cant fault them really ...well done

Catlyn....good to hear that!!!
This is what ALL LAs should be doing: be keen for all cms to be included and your example is proof that other LAs are being 'difficult' and reluctant to be told what to do...saying they have heard nothing or needed further guidance was purely a delaying tactic and, frankly, not a very professional approach

Getting ALL cms to be included in this is only the first step in this campaign...there is much more to do when it comes to LAs...lets deal with this first though.

We seem to be asking it is important that LAs stay to support cms in future...that is what they should have done in the first place for many many years ...instead they have been a law unto themselves, creaming off money from their funding and paying a pittance for the Free Entitlement

This is our chance to put things right!!!

Where is that Bunyip???? Are you still going to march towards that 'accrediattion'???
Hope this has been of help to you!!

[babs]

We had a partnership meeting last week and all good and outstanding cm's were given a pack on 2 yr old funding they then said information was been sent out in post to those below how to apply..

[Simona]

We had a partnership meeting last week and all good and outstanding cm's were given a pack on 2 yr old funding they then said information was been sent out in post to those below how to apply..

What about the funding for 3 and 4 year olds..are you included in this too?

[babs]

What about the funding for 3 and 4 year olds..are you included in this too?

yes I already do funding for 3 - 4 yr olds..

ill be honest not even picked my pack up I got it Tuesday, had practice for exam Wednesday , exam Thursday busy Friday and weekend and ive been on holiday this week so not touched anything to do with work. I do have 2 interested in places for 2 yr olds mid starting September. don't think ill get a lot as school 2 minutes walk away is taking on 2 yr olds too..

[Simona]

We need to clarify that the 2 year olds we are talking about are the ones from vulnerable families who will get the 15 hrs funding...130,000 this Sept and another 130,000 Sept 2014

All other 2 year olds will be paying the usual cms fees as they are not entitled to state funding or any free education at present!!

[babs]

yes these children fit the criteria for funding if this question was to me..

We need to clarify that the 2 year olds we are talking about are the ones from vulnerable families who will get the 15 hrs funding...130,000 this Sept and another 130,000 Sept 2014

All other 2 year olds will be paying the usual cms fees as they are not entitled to state funding or any free education at present!!