Pre-School Alliance publishes new free guide to early years changes

19th December 2016

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Latest news from Pre-School Learning Alliance

Pre-school Learning AllianceThe Pre-school Learning Alliance has created a free, up-to-date guide on changes to early years funding and delivery.

The guide is available to download in PDF format from the Alliance’s website at www.pre-school.org.uk/EYguide. A hard copy of the guide will also be sent to all Alliance members in January, while non-members will be able to receive a free copy of the guide on request.

The Alliance previously published a guide to early years funding back in September, ahead of the publication of the government’s consultation response. This new guide provides an update on changes to the early years funding system – including how local authority funding rates have been calculated, how local funding formulas will work, and changes to SEND support – as well as an overview of the general principles around the delivery of the free entitlement offer and the rules around eligibility for the 30-hour offer. It also includes a timeline of when key changes are due to be implemented.

Commenting on the guide, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance said:

“Next year is going to see several significant changes to the way that early years provision in this country is both funded and delivered. As it stands, however, there’s a lot of misinformation and confusion on what is changing and when.

“Some providers, for example, aren’t aware that local authorities only have to move to a universal base rate from 2019. Others aren’t clear that parents don’t actually have to work for 16 hours per week to be eligible for the 30-hour offer – they only have to earn the equivalent of 16 hours’ work at national living or minimum wage.

“With so much information from government coming so late in the day, we felt it was vital to provide clear, accessible guidance for early years providers trying to prepare for next year. Given that many of the impending changes are likely to have a substantial impact on those offering the free entitlement, we also felt it was important to make the guide available for free to the whole sector, not just Alliance members.

“We hope that providers will find the guide useful, and we will continue working to keep the sector informed throughout 2017 and beyond.”

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