Agenda item

Childcare Sufficiency Assessment and Annual Report

(To receive a report which presents the annual sufficiency report for comment and gives the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee an update on the delivery of Lincolnshire's Childcare Sufficiency report for 2014/15)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which presented the annual sufficiency report for comment and provided the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee with an update on the delivery of Lincolnshire's Childcare Sufficiency report for 2014/15.

 

Members were advised that following the presentation of the sufficiency paper in January 2015, it was agreed that the Birth to Five Service would develop the annual sufficiency report by revisiting the methodology of assessing sufficiency to give assurance that it was fit for purpose; developing and delivering the annual sufficiency report for 2015 within agreed associated costs and timeline; and also to consider strategies for financing sufficiency gaps once the assessment was complete.

 

It was reported that it was believed that there was sufficient early years provision in Lincolnshire, but it was noted that using waiting lists was not a very good way of assessing demand as some parents would put their names down for two or three different providers to ensure their child got a place.

 

Members of the Committee were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         There were concerns that there was very low provision in the Hartsholme area of Lincoln for 0-2 year olds, and it was queried whether there was a breakdown of the provision available in the different areas of Lincoln;

·         It was noted that for the purpose of this report, it was important to take a holistic look at the provision in the city;

·         The 0-2 year old provision was the most expensive, as it required a 1:3 ratio of staff to children;

·         Officers were trying to analyse the level of child care costs in the county;

·         It was queried whether schools were being encouraged to offer these services.  Members were advised that there had been an increase in breakfast clubs, but it was more difficult organising activities for the afternoon;

·         There were concerns about provision for 11 year olds, as there were often a large number of children of this age who would have to let themselves into their house after school;

·         In relation to the Snap short survey which was used to form the basis of the assessment of sufficiency of places, it was noted that the questions had been interpreted in a number of different ways.  It was suggested that the Community Engagement Team should be used in the future to ensure that questions were written in a way which would ensure that the correct information was obtained;

·         The internal consultation team was now getting a better quality of information than external consultants;

·         One member commented that she had attended a conference the previous week in relation to dementia, and centres were being established to provide support, and it was suggested whether they could also be used be young people after school, as both young people and elderly people could benefit from the interaction with each other.  Officers agreed to look into this scheme further to determine whether it would be appropriate;

·         It was noted that families that had not been able to find child care provision in their area were encouraged to report this through the Family Information Service.  This would also be the best way to collect data in relation to sufficiency of places;

·         It was requested whether information in relation to how many children were affected by lack of provision could be included in future reports.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee approve the Annual Sufficiency Report;

2.    That the working group be supported to continue to meet as a collective to review the resource allocations to ensure the local authority meets its statutory duties regarding sufficiency of childcare places.

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