DfE to assess early years funding disparities

The news will go some way to allay concerns that early years providers had expressed that council pre-school budgets would be raided to meet the 10 per cent cut to local government funding unveiled in the Spending Review last week.

Their concern was fuelled by Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that the government will consult on introducing a new national funding formula for schools from reception to 16.

United for All Ages and the Good Care Guide director Denise Burke warned that this would leave funding for two- to five-year-olds unprotected as local authorities look to find new areas to make savings.

Early years and schools funding are currently both provided within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for two- to 16-year-olds.

But the Treasury said the new formula would not replace the DSG and would not affect the amount of money provided for under-fives education.

The DfE confirmed that it planned to address disparities in early years funding.

A DfE spokeswoman said: “Like schools, there are also disparities in early years funding between local authorities.

“The government recognises that the way early education funding is distributed to local authorities is unfair and opaque.

“Our ambition is to move towards greater fairness and transparency in the funding system.”

The schools funding formula is intended to allocate money to schools based on pupils’ needs, including how many are deprived.