DfE names councils to trial early years pupil premium
Laura McCardle
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Seven local authorities are to test new arrangements for providing additional support to disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds in early education.
The authorities (see list below) have been allocated funding from the new £50m early years pupil premium (EYPP) to provide additional support to disadvantaged children in receipt of free childcare from a local provider ahead of its full implementation in April.
The EYPP, announcedby Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in March last year, will be paid to providers at a rate of £300 per eligible child, equivalent to 53p per hour.
To test the arrangements, the Department for Education has awarded each of the participating councils between £76,000 and £201,000 based on an estimation of the number of eligible children in each local authority area.
Each of the authorities will be required to report back to the DfE before the EYPP is introduced across England.
Early years campaigners have previously warned that the £300 premium rate will fail to incentivise the best providers to reach out to disadvantaged children, but childcare minister Sam Gyimah said the funding will help more children access high-quality early years education.
He said: “Children who get it go on to do better at school and earn higher wages, so the EYPP will be a life-changing injection of money.
“I would encourage any parent who meets the EYPP criteria to tell a local provider they are eligible. The provider will then alert the local authority to access the funding.”
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, remains concerned that the rate paid to providers is insufficient.
He said: “While the funding is intended to help providers deliver additional support for those children most in need, given the extent of current funding shortfalls within the sector, it is likely that many providers may understandably opt to use this funding to try to plug existing funding gaps.
“However, the independent report into childcare sector funding commissioned by the alliance last year found that the EYPP will only make up 11 per cent of the total current funding shortfall for three- and four-year-old provision within the private, voluntary and independent sector so the problem of insufficient funding remains.”
The pilot areas and their funding allocations are:
- Blackpool - £76,745
- Bristol - £197,591
- Cambridgeshire - £132,979
- North Yorkshire - £191,543
- Northamptonshire - £201,655
- Hackney - £191,543
- Stoke on Trent - £137,198
