The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation on changes to the way the government funds free childcare and early years education for 3 and 4 year olds.
The new funding formula will replace the current system, which is based on how much a council has historically spent rather than how much it actually costs to meet the local need.
The proposals include:
- Introducing a new early years national funding formula for 3 and 4 year olds;
- Changing the way local authorities fund the early years providers in their area;
- Making sure that children with special educational needs or disabilities attract the extra funding they need.
The new formula is based on 3 factors:
- A ‘universal base rate’ of funding for each child, so that every local area is funded fairly for the core costs of delivering childcare;
- An ‘additional needs factor’, so that funding takes into account the extra costs of supporting children with additional needs to achieve good learning and development outcomes;
- The cost of providing childcare in different parts of the country;
The consultation which closes on 22 September 2016 can be found on the DfE website (external link).