CEY1536

Written evidence submitted by Babraham Nursey

Our nursery opened in 1990, just outside of Cambridge. We provide for children from 0-4 years of age within our nursery and for children up to 11 years in our afterschool and holiday club. We are a welcoming, family centred, friendly, caring organisation with a strong community ethos. We have been graded as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas since 2007, undergoing four inspections in this timeframe. As a setting we are increasingly concerned for the sustainability of early years provision. We recognise we are in a privileged position, being not for profit, with a waiting list and both funded and fee-paying parents. However, increasingly there are greater challenges to maintaining quality for children. Many Early Years Educators are leaving the profession, which alongside funding restrictions and rising costs, is further jeopardising the future of Early Childhood Education and Care systems. We therefore feel compelled to answer to this call for evidence, to raise what we see is happening across the country.

The themes of ‘Childcare entitlements’ and ‘Early Years Provision’ in the Terms of Reference for the call for evidence are intrinsically linked by the same challenges that are presented to Early Years providers. A provider cannot offer high quality childcare without the funding level to employ such staff members. The Early Years workforce cannot attract new, passionate staff without the promise of a rate of pay which means they are able to buy a home and afford the current cost of living. The current funding rate does not enable a provision to offer any such things. The Council are only able to give what has been set by the Government, they do not have the funds to give more as funding is centrally maintained. Furthermore, providers are unable to meet the needs of children with SEND as currently there is no funding for children aged under three years unless they are either a funded two or they have an EHCP in place. Whilst each LA makes their own SEND funding offer, there is no Governmental requirement or budget to offer SEND funding to under threes. Early years is a time when you can make a real difference, and the current lack of funding across the 0-4’s means that many children, especially in deprived areas, are simply not having the opportunity to thrive, develop and grow to the best of their ability. Below we have looked at the reasonings in more detail.

The low rate of funding given to providers centrally via the LA directly impacts on the affordability of childcare for families, as the shortfall in funding rate must be recouped elsewhere for a setting to remain open and financially viable. There are a number of ways in which a setting may make up this loss. It could be recouped from the additional hours/sessions that a family pays for outside of the funded offer, or by charging for extra optional services. Alternatively, the fee rate for the unfunded children (0-3’s) could be raised to cover the shortfall in the funded rate. Whichever way, in order for a provision to remain open the family ends up paying the shortfall and this is impacting on the affordability of the provision of childcare. The current ineffectual funding rate is one of the main reasons why childcare remains unaffordable – the funding may be advertised as free, but in real terms, this is not true as the rate does not cover the costs to operate a provision, let alone a high-quality provision where children thrive.

We compose this from a setting where we have what we would term ‘lucky children’. We are four times Outstanding, and we are not in the situation where we are solely reliant on funded fees. We offer places from 0-4 years, and many of our funded children attend more than the 1,140 hours per year that are funded (or 22.35 hours per week over 51 weeks that we are open). We also benefit from having the younger children paying fees. However, the significant increases faced this year will not be covered by the 5.9% increase to the funded rate offered by the DfE in our area. For example, we are facing a 159% energy price increase and our food costs have risen by 15% alone. Staff wages were increased by a minimum of 5% in July 2022, with our level 3’s having a further uplift. This is without the other increases that we face. If the funding rate was our sole source of income, the funding would not be a sustainable offer for us to continue as a provider.

In Cambridge the increasing cost of staff wages is not only driven by the increments in the National Living Wage (NLW), but also the lack of qualified staff in the labour market in comparison to the number of providers operating. The NLW increases means that all staff at nursery receive an uplift in their wages to ensure being qualified means something and has value, otherwise all staff (qualified and assistants) would be on the same pay, leading to further demoralisation of the workforce. Whilst the increases to NLW wage were welcomed within the sector, the funding does not increase to cover this cost and the other increased coasts that we as a sector are facing. Furthermore, the shortage of qualified staff in the labour market in Cambridge means that wages have been further increased, meaning that we further uplifted our level 3 qualified Nursery Nurses staff last summer in order to remain competitive.

Staff deserve higher pay, early years carry out a crucial role, where one has the opportunity to make a real difference for the future. Children deserve staff that are curious, knowledgeable and passionate in their role. Staff need to feel motivated and valued to do this. Staff need to be highly trained and qualified, have the opportunity to continually upskill and develop their learning and understanding, just like the children they are teaching. The current funding offer does not allow for training of staff in its hourly rate. CPD is central to professionalisation of the workforce, retainment of workers, the development of quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and the development of the sector to be able to offer high quality provision. In the current climate, with the current financial constraints compounded by inadequate funding, this is not an option for many.

Recruitment to the sector and the retainment of staff is increasingly difficult. Many staff leave for differing roles, citing pay, long working hours, expectations of the role and the work life balance as key instigators for change to other areas of employment, or alternatively move to roles within schools where the working hours are shorter and where there are term time only roles. Furthermore, Nursery Nurses can be paid more for working unqualified jobs, such as supermarkets without any responsibilities rather than in an early year’s provision. Covid-19 has intensified the previous workforce challenges and made staff re-assess their working lives further and re-address the balance. A number of our staff team now work 4-day weeks rather than 5 days, and we are finding that potential employees are interested in part time roles rather than full time. This means that the number of children we can take at any one time is being affected which in turn affects childcare sufficiency.

Another barrier to joining the profession is the requirement to possess a GCSE Grade 4 or above, in both Maths and English or alternatively the requirement to undertake and pass functional skills to become a Level 3 practitioner. We are finding that this requirement is obstructing potential staff from either joining the workforce or becoming qualified. We currently have an amazing Apprentice who is struggling to pass her maths functional skills, despite being ahead in her Level 3 course and ready to complete 6 months ahead of schedule. She is finding it extremely stressful to continually need to attend more sessions on Maths and to sit continual tests to pass the required functional skills to become qualified. She is an excellent practitioner who demonstrates the highest level of interactions and writes beautifully, exacting formative observations on the children in our care. Just because someone didn’t pass their Maths GCSE doesn’t make them an inadequate practitioner. This requirement, particularly Maths, is reducing the number of potential staff joining and qualifying within the profession. It is also putting off mature adults training, as they are required to undertake the extra training and tests to meet these requirements for the role. Whilst we understand we need to be able to model the skills to the children we are not required to know algebra or equations to teach children aged from 0-4.

Childcare, whilst extremely rewarding as a role, was not supported by the Government throughout the CV-19 pandemic. Sweeping statements during the pandemic, such as remaining open when all other children’s settings such as schools closed after the Christmas without any extra words or support furthered this. Childcare did not receive the same support as school staff, where staff remained on full pay, Childcare settings were required to claim through the Furlough scheme. As a setting we were lucky, staff remained on full pay whilst furloughed, although we no longer have reserves to support us in the future. However, this meant that we retained all of our staff throughout the pandemic to ensure we were able to meet the demand for childcare and offer the highest of quality care. Training opportunities was further reduced throughout the pandemic, both CPD and formal training. Our Apprentice who started in September 2020 took much longer to complete her training.

Support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has been reduced to an unjustifiable level; children with SEND are going unidentified, failing to flourish and are being lost in a failing system due to the lack of funding provided by the DfE. Early years providers are unable to offer children with SEND the support they require to keep them safe, develop and grow within the setting. There is no requirement for LA’s to offer SEND funding to support children under three years, unless the child has an EHCP, yet childcare providers offer ECEC from 0-4 years.  Furthermore, there is no budget for the LA’s to offer this support to settings, even though from meetings we know that Cambridgeshire would like to. Settings are left to support the children as best they can and potentially take on the extra financial burden associated with this. Either that or the child and family is unable to access childcare. If a setting is able to access any funding, the rate of pay given for the funding does not cover the cost of the staff member offering support. Children with SEND need knowledgeable, trained practitioners, yet the rate does not cover the cost of a Nursery Assistant. It may not cover the whole time that the family requires childcare, further limiting the child’s time at the setting. The current SEND offer requires a rethink and overhaul, and a review that puts the child and the family at the centre of its purpose.

Children in deprived areas are dropping further behind their affluent peers, who reside in families who can afford quality childcare and access support independently when needed. Quality childcare is expensive to provide, as already highlighted. The Government system already acknowledges this inadvertently, in the way that it offers significantly higher funding to maintained nursery schools to support the services they provide. Unless disadvantaged children can access such centres, the childcare they receive is likely to be of lower quality, and this will be heightened in the current real term reduction of funding against the rising costs of living. ‘Lucky children’ still have an abundance of cultural capital, opportunities to thrive, develop and grow, whereas children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not have this to begin with and the reduction of Sure Start services and quality provision limits their ability to experience these opportunities at other times in their life. Furthermore, the reduction of Sure Start Centres means that these children are less supported within their community and the parents do not receive the support to in turn support their children with their learning and development. Sure Start and other services have the opportunity to reach out before babies are born and make a real difference but they are not. For instance, activities such as virtual breastfeeding workshops are inadequate as a training and support mechanism for pregnant mothers, and whilst more affluent parents to be can pay for private training (currently £269), parents from deprived areas would not be able to do this. This will lead to new parents not accessing the already limited services available for other areas of support and to more babies being bottle fed. 

The current tax-free childcare system works well once it is set up, and many of our parents access this service. Gaining the extended entitlement from the HMRC can be more difficult for some parents, along with understanding how the funding is offered. The funding is currently offered differently across childcare settings according to their own business model. The current inadequate level of funding means that providers must administer the funding in a way that means they are still financially viable, whilst also following the DfE requirements. This leads to differing patterns that parents find confusing. Other subsidies given to families for childcare would in our opinion, be better if they were given in voucher form rather than by giving money to the family to pay for the service. This would mean that the childcare subsidy would be used for its purpose, and childcare settings would not be chasing families who were behind with payment leading to less stress for families too.

In summary:

• The current early years funding rate does not cover the cost of the place being offered notably due to historic inadequacies in the rate, increasing staffing costs, increasing overheads.
• Childcare is not affordable to parents as they are paying for the deficit in funding in other ways for a childcare provider to remain viable (e.g. increasing 0-3 fees, paying for other services, only part funded days when they require full time care).
• There are not enough qualified staff in the sector for a variety of reasons including; low pay, qualified staff leaving the sector, inflexible roles (no working from home option such as in other positions), expectations of the role (including Ofsted) versus the benefits and pay and lack of recognition. This means there is increased competition for staff within the labour market.
• The reduction of staff is leading to childcare providers reducing the number of places they can offer to families and is therefore creating childcare sufficiency issues.
• The requirement of Maths and English is acting as a barrier to joining the profession. Whilst potential staff can train and sit functional skills, this is an additional requirement that is hindering staff from training. Whilst it’s necessary to have a good grasp and understanding of the English language, it is not necessary to write essays. Similarly, staff must be able to count and enjoy numbers and shapes. However, they do not need to know how to solve equations and complete excel spreadsheets.
• The gap between deprived children and affluent children is widening. Good and Outstanding childcare is expensive to provide and the current financial support system does not support this level of quality unless it is within a maintained Nursery School (who receive high funding levels).
• The quality of the childcare provision directly impacts on children’s preparations and transitions to primary school. An excellent, high quality early years setting provides a springboard for the future and children leave ready, willing and able for their next step in their learning. Equally, children with SEND leave supported with the correct plans and support in place for school. A lower quality provision, with less qualified and knowledgeable staff does not support transitions to school in the same way.
• The reduction in Sure Start centres is leaving children from disadvantaged areas fewer opportunities to develop and flourish. Children do not experience cultural capital at home, and do not have the opportunity to gain wider experiences elsewhere. Parents do not receive the training and support to understand how to develop their own knowledge in order to support their children.
• The lack of funding for children with SEND is inhibiting the support children are given. Children under three, unless they have an EHCP, are absent from the funding offer, despite them needing to attend early years provision. This means the setting cannot support these children or pay for support out of their own funds. Three- and four-year olds receive limited funding. This means the gap for these children is widening.
• Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the issues within the sector, these problems were already apparent. It has led to more staff re-evaluating their roles and priorities and leaving the sector. The increase in the cost of living has also led to this change as staff can earn more elsewhere in unskilled jobs.

The call for evidence request highlights the complexity of early years and the intertwining issues at its core. For example, in the current climate it is very difficult to both attract new staff to childcare and to train staff who are coming into the role as Nursery Assistants. The current Governmental constraints, including funding rates and the Maths and English requirements are hindering this further. Nurseries are reducing the number of children they are taking because they cannot employ the number of staff required to operate at full occupancy. This is leading to a sufficiency problem with regards to places. Funding does not cover the cost of the place; therefore, the future answer could be to offer less funded places, which will further affect children from deprived areas and create a widening gap between families that can afford to pay and those that can’t which research tells us affects a child’s future life chances. High quality childcare requires extensively qualified, knowledgeable, skilful staff who genuinely love what they do. The current funding rate fails to recognise this and is creating a dichotomy of those who can afford this (and pay more) and those who cannot; those who will attend high quality childcare and exceed and those who will not will start school far behind others and research tells us these children will never catch up, even in adulthood.

January 2023

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