What does it mean? The Early Years Single Funding Formula is the government's new method to ensure that funding for early years childcare provision is distributed fairly and transparently. Every local authority must have the formula in place by April 2010.
The government is pushing forward with free childcare for three- and four-year-olds, with plans to extend the offer from 12.5 to 15 hours a week and make it more flexible.
The money will come out of the Dedicated Schools Grant, which each local authority receives from the government. But in the past private, voluntary and independent (PVI) childcare providers have been under-represented on schools forums, the mechanism by which local authorities divvy up the money. This has left council-run nurseries with a disproportionately large share of the funding. The big complaint coming from PVI organisations is that the entitlement to free childcare will threaten their ability to operate unless the funding they get matches their costs.
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