Children, Families, Learning & Leisure Cabinet Member – Minutes – 22 June 2018

1 (1) CHILDCARE SUFFICIENCY AUDIT – The Director: Learning, Skills and Culture submitted a report informing the Cabinet Member in respect of the council’s statutory duty for the provision of sufficient childcare and seeking approval to publish the Childcare Sufficiency Audit report on the council’s website in line with the sufficiency duty.

The Childcare Sufficiency Audit provided the local position on how the council was meeting its duty to secure sufficient childcare under the requirements of the Childcare Act 2006.  Provisions in relation to sufficiency of childcare were as follows.

Section 6 required councils to secure sufficient childcare, so far as is reasonably practical, for working parents or parents in education or training for employment, for children aged 0-14 years (or to 18 years for disabled children).

Section 7 placed a duty on councils to secure the availability, in each 12 month period, of at least 570 hours of free early education provision over at least 38 weeks for each eligible child aged two, three or four years from the date at which entitlement started until the child reached compulsory school age.

The Early Education and Childcare Statutory Guidance from September 2014 set out that councils should report annually to elected members on how the duty to secure sufficient childcare was being met locally.  The report should be made available and accessible to parents.

Councils determined their own local formula that met the requirements of statutory guidance in consultation with the Schools Forum.  Early years providers received funding based only on actual take-up of places.

Resolved – That the Childcare Sufficiency Audit report be approved for publication on the council’s website.

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