Government ignores calls to increase early years premium

Campaigners have previously argued that the £300 premium is unlikely to be enough to convince popular settings to "reach out" to disadvantaged children.

But in its response to a consultation on the new payment, the government said funding for local authorities during 2015/16 will remain at £300 per child – a total of £50m overall.

The government has said that seven areas – Blackpool, Bristol, Cambridgeshire, Hackney, North Yorkshire, Stoke, and another authority yet to be announced – will share £1m to trial the new support ahead of its introduction nationwide next April.

Liz Bayram, chief executive at the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years said the £300 premium is equivalent to just 53p per hour per child.

She said the sector “should moderate expectations of what this will actually deliver in terms of improvements to provision”.

The government has published indicative funding allocations for each local authority based on estimated numbers of eligible children in each area.

A mid-year survey will take place next autumn to check take-up of the EYPP, with adjustments to allocations possible as a result.

The government's response to the consultation states that a number of groups made the case to extend eligibility for the EYPP to more groups of children.

However this idea was dismissed.

"We think that it is important to keep consistency between the EYPP and the school-age pupil premium – this will help to make it clear and simple for parents, schools and providers,” the response states.

"Keeping the eligible group focused means that we can get maximum value from the funding available."

A Department for Education spokeswoman said the areas announced to trial the premium will focus on looking at good practice and the best ways to use the money.

The government has also confirmed that early years settings will have the freedom on how they use the money, which could include hiring more qualified staff or bringing in specialists such as speech and language experts.

In addition, the Department for Education has recruited the charity 4Children to gather evidence from next month on identifying examples of successful work in supporting disadvantaged pre-school age children.

4Children chief executive Anne Longfield said: “A key point made in the consultation responses was that the early years sector is seeking practical guidance on how to make the best use of the early years pupil premium.

“We are pleased to be asked to launch a call for evidence to gather the most innovative ideas on how to use the funding to close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.”

How nurseries use their EYPP will be evaluated by Ofsted, but Bayram is concerned about how they will measure effectiveness.

“Assessing early years pupil premium spending in Ofsted judgements without clear criteria to judge it against could open it up to personal interpretation. We will be engaging with Ofsted to make sure that appropriate criteria are set,” she added.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the premium would be “one of the great legacies” of the government, helping create “a fairer society which benefits families up and down the country”.

“It is vital that we intervene at the earliest possible stage and do all we can to help young children develop and learn,” he added.

“I’m so proud that we’ve been able to deliver this early years pupil premium so that toddlers from the poorest families get the support they need, which will pay dividends later in life.”