Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Department for Education and Skills
Question 20 (Mr Philip Dunne): What analysis
have you done of the numbers of children's centres provided by
local authorities, public sector bodies, voluntary groups and
charities?
The following table has been compiled from information
obtained from local authorities during the week commencing 29
January 2007 and relates to centres that are up and running. The
total number of open centres increases every week and the management
arrangements for some centres are in transition, so the picture
is constantly changing.
| Region | Local Authority
| Primary
Care Trust | Voluntary Organisation
| Private
sector | Other |
| London | 134 | 2
| 20 | 5 | 4 |
| South East | 77 | 2
| 11 | 2 | 13 |
| South West | 72 | 1
| 15 | 3 | 1 |
| West Midlands | 66 | 3
| 33 | 3 | 18 |
| East Midlands | 66 | 11
| 8 | 0 | 3 |
| Eastern | 18 | 12
| 21 | 0 | 23 |
| North East | 111 | 0
| 5 | 0 | 0 |
| North West | 156 | 10
| 17 | 0 | 8 |
| Yorks & Humber | 98 | 12
| 17 | 0 | 17 |
| TOTAL (1098) | 798
| 53 | 147 | 13
| 87 |
| % OF ALL | 73 % | 5 %
| 13 % | 1 % | 8 %
|
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Notes:
1. Voluntary Organisations include large national voluntary
bodies such as NCH, Barnardos, the Family Welfare Association,
4Children, Ormiston Trust and some smaller local organisations.
2. "Other" includes centres managed jointly eg by
a Local Authority and Primary Care Trust, or a Local Authority
and a Voluntary Organisation; centres run by schools; and ex-Sure
Start local programme partnerships that have incorporated as companies
limited by guarantee.
Questions 51-54 (Mr Khan) and Questions 79-88 (Mr Bacon): Expenditure
since 1997 on Sure Start.
Sure Start expenditure for the period from 1997-98 to 2005-06
is shown in the table. Total expenditure includes Sure Start Local
Programmes (SSLPs), childcare and some nursery education funding.
From 2003-04, expenditure figures also include funding for Sure
Start Children's Centres.
£ million
| 97-98 | 98-99
| 99-2000 | 2000-01
| 01-02 | 02-03 |
03-04 | 04-05 | 05-06
| Total |
Total Sure Start
current and capital
expenditure
| *4 | 179 | 213
| 367 | 467 | 680
| 720 | 928 | 1,240
| 4,798 |
Of which: SSLPs/
Children's Centres
| 0 | 0 | 7
| 56 | 134 | 216
| 365 | 568 | **746
| 2,092 |
| | |
| | | |
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Notes:
*1997-98 saw the withdrawal of the nursery education voucher
and a move towards universal nursery education funding for all
four year olds. Free early education provision for all three year
olds came in from 2004.
**Provisional figure.
Sources:
Totals for 1998-99 to 1999-2000 from Departmental Report
2004 (Cm 6202).
Totals for 2000-01 to 2004-05 from Departmental Report 2006
(Cm 6812).
Total for 2005-06 from Departmental Resource Accounts 2005-06
(HC 1355).
Question 108 (Helen Goodman): Where are you on training
people in early years skills now?
We are making good progress on developing the early years
workforce and have activity on a number of fronts:
— We have always encouraged local authorities to
use the General Sure Start Grant to support the development of
the workforce. While it is for local authorities to determine
their own priorities, the guidance highlights the sort of training
and development activities the grant can be used for.
— Based on the unaudited returns for 2005-06, local
authorities spent nearly £74 million—15% of the overall
revenue budget—on early years workforce development.
— For 2006-08, we have significantly boosted the
funding available for workforce development with the introduction
of the Transformation Fund. This is a ringfenced grant of £250
million specifically intended to raise the quality of the early
years workforce without impacting on affordability.
— The Transformation Fund is targeted at the private,
voluntary and independent sectors where evidence suggests that
the quality of provision is weakest and that the workforce is
least well qualified. The Transformation Fund through incentives
and premiums supports the Government aim of having an Early Years
Professional in every full daycare setting by 2015. The fund is
also helping to raise the qualification levels of the sector to
level three and higher as well as training the workforce to be
able to work with children with additional needs.
— The Children's Workforce Development Council in
partnership with key stakeholders has developed a set of Standards
for the skills, knowledge and practice experience required for
the Early Years Professional role. Those meeting these Standards
will be conferred Early Years Professional Status.
— The first 400 or so EYP candidates have now achieved
Early Years Professional Status and a further 2,000 or so candidates
began their Early Years Professional training from January 2007.
They will work in a range of settings in the private, voluntary,
independent and maintained sectors.
— We asked the National College of School Leadership
to develop The National Professional Qualification in Integrated
Centre Leadership (NPQICL). The NPQICL is a national programme
and recognised qualification designed to address the needs of
leaders working in multi-agency and multi-disciplinary environments
across education, health and social services.
— The NPQICL is in its third year. Priority has
been given to children's centre managers and over 800 have taken,
or are on, the course. We expect all centre managers to undertake
this training over time although this is not a mandatory requirement
before posts can be taken up.
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