Annex A
SURESTART FUNDING AND CHILDREN'S CENTRES: ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
SURESTART
FUNDING
— In 1997-98, something in the region
of £1.2 billion was spent on childcare and nursery education
(including £562 million provided to local authorities through
the "under 5s sub-block") A broadly comparable figure
for 2004-05 would be £3.57 billion (including £2.l billion
for nursery education paid through the "under 5s sub-block"),
and we expect the figure for 2005-06 to rise to just over £4
billion (including £2.89 billion from the "under 5s
sub-block").
— Following the substantially increased
funding announced in Spending Review 2004 and Pre-Budget Report
2004, allocations for the SureStart operational budget (ie not
including "under 5s sub-block" money) for the current
financial year, and the next Spending Review period, are as follows:
| 2004-05 | £866 million
|
| 2005-06 | £1,144 million
|
| 2006-07 | £1,671 million
|
| 2007-08 | £1,784 million
|
— As a result of the increased funding, SureStart
resources will more than double over the four year period, a rise
in average annual real terms of 24%.
— These figures include the Transformation Fund
of £125 million per year from April 2006 that the government
is creating to support investment by local authorities in high
quality, affordable and sustainable childcare.
THE STANDARDS
FUND
— Other funding is being made available to support
the development of extended schools through the Standards Fund
route. This money may be used for to provide childcare in Extended
Schools, but has not been specifically allocated for that purpose.
It may be used flexibly to support a range of extended services.
The figures are:
| 2003-04 and 2004-05—£44 million in total
|
| 2005-06—£1 07 million |
| Figures for later years have yet to be agreed.
|
SURESTART
CHILDREN'S
CENTRES
— Choice for parents, the best start for children:
a 10 year strategy for childcare, published in December 2004,
set out our aim of a children's centre for every community by
2010.
— Based on the projected number of children under
five in the population, and each centre serving a population ranging
from 800 (in the most disadvantaged areas) to 1,000 children (in
more affluent areas), this would require around 3,500 centres.
— The level of funding to develop children's centres
is additional to other existing resources being invested in children
under five and their families—for example: ante- and post-natal
midwife support and health visitor services, and early education
for three and four year olds.
— Additional costs required per will also vary depending
on what the centre has been developed from: an existing SureStart
local programme, for example, will need less investment than a
new build. Resources will also need to reflect the expectation
that children from poor families will need more investment than
those from more affluent backgrounds. As a result, average cost
per cent are is a misleading concept.
— Allocations to local authorities will be based
on number of children under five living in the local authority
area at a unit cost per child. There will be a higher unit cost
for children living in poor households. Long term, we have assumed
an average unit cost in the order of £470 per child for children
from deprived backgrounds and £100 per child for those from
more affluent families. As now, this will be additional to other
spending on services for under 5s and their families.
— The following table shows the additional resource
that has been allocated for progress towards the 3,500 children's
centres target:
|
| SR period | Number of
new centres
| Revenue | Capital
| Comments |
|
| 2020 | Around 1,000
| £117 million | £317 million
| Capital for around 1,000 centres
Revenue allocation assumes most centres fully open near to end of period (March 2006); these resource in addition to other unit resources for pre-existing programmes—SSLP, NN, EEC.
|
| 2004 | 1,500
| £584 million | £429 million
| Capital for 1,500 centres. Revenue support for 1,000 opened by March 2006, plus 700 new centres (again assuming most new centres fully open near to end of period (March 2008) and in addition to SSLP and NN resource).
|
| 2006 | 1,000
| To be agreed
with HMT
| To be agreed
with HMT
| Will need to include revenue with HMT agreed support for 2,500 centres with HMT already open, plus capital and revenue for 1,000 further new centres.
|
|
|
