Nottingham City Council Delegated Decision

Transcription

1 Nottingham City Council Delegated Decision Reference Number: 1520 Author: Lisa Elliker Department: Children and Families Contact: Lisa Elliker (Job Title: Project Manager, Phone: ) Subject: Total Value: Delivery of Early Learning Programme For Two Year Olds in Children's Centres and Play Centres Nil (Type: Nil) Decision Being Taken: 1. To approve the expansion of current Childcare Contracts' capacity at Bulwell, Aspley, Broxtowe, Meadows, Sneinton and Clifton Children's Centres to allow for the delivery of the Early Learning Programme for Two Year Olds. 2. To approve the use of available space within two Children's Centres (St Ann's North and Southglade Access Centre) and three Play Centres (Phoenix Adventure Playground, St Ann's Play Centre and The Ridge) to create additional places to deliver the Early Learning Programme for Two Year Olds. 3. To approve the commencement of a procurement process to select providers to deliver the Early Learning Programme set out in decision To delegate authority to award any contracts following the completion of the procurement process to the Director of Family Community Teams. 5. To delegate authority to sign contracts on behalf of the Council to the Head of Service for Family Community Teams and Head of Service for Quality and Efficiency. Reference Number: 1520, Page No: 1 of 6

2 Reasons for the Decision(s) In October 2010 the government announced, as part of the Fairness Premium, to extend the free entitlement of 15 hours per week, available to every three and four year old, to all eligible two year olds. For Nottingham this equated to approximately 1,500 eligible children at September 2013, approximately 2,700 children will be eligible when the programme expands in September Part 1 of the Education Act 2011 extends the duty on local authorities (LAs) to provide free education to eligible two year olds from September Local authorities have a duty to secure sufficient free early years provision for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds. Nottingham City Council are working to ensuring there are sufficient quality and accessible early learning places for two year olds across the city; in particular those wards identified as a priority for expansion (those with a high number of eligible children/low number of early learning places). The expansion programme is being developed through: Data - ensuring accurate and timely data in order to plan for expansion effectively Scoping - Keeping abreast of capacity of all Nottingham City funded providers Targeted expansion strategy - key wards and work beyond traditional nursery providers, e.g. schools, childminders, Children's Centres Capital Grant Programme - shape according to needs identified through scoping and targeted expansion strategy Quality - focus support on those providers with the lowest quality in order to increase the number with Good or better Ofsted grades. Continue validation of providers with Satisfactory/Requires Improvement Ofsted ratings Outreach - working with partners in order to successfully engage with eligible families and support them to access their entitlement where appropriate At present sufficiency gaps vary, the demand does not meet the places available. The wards and number of places which need to be created across Nottingham as a priority are as follows:- Name of Ward Number of places required Aspley ; 304 &nbsp Bulwell Forest 114 Wollaton &nb sp; 75 Sherwood bsp; 74 St Ann's 67 Bridge ; 64 &n &nbsp Clifton South 64 Reference Number: 1520, Page No: 2 of 6

3 Dales 48 Bestwood bsp; 40 &n As part of the overall approach to create new places across Nottingham there is physical capacity to expand delivery of the programme in Children's Centres and Play Centres. Following a scoping exercise of buildings there is an immediate option available to expand provision of the six existing daycare providers on Children's Centre sites, procure a provider for the Children's Centres serving St Ann's North and Bestwood, and utilise three Play Centres, Phoenix Adventure Playground, The Ridge and St Ann's Play Centre. If the decisions outlined in this report are approved at least 265 new places will be created across wards in the City. Of the 265 places created approximately 96 would be in St Ann's, 6 in Aspley, 16 in Bulwell, 47 in Bestwood, 23 in the Dales, 10 in Bridge and 10 in Clifton. Extending the delivery of the Early Learning Programme within Children's Centres and Play Centres for children in the local area will help the local authority meet its statutory duty regarding sufficient available places. Additionally it will support greater integrated working within Children's Centres as well as improving learning outcomes for this vulnerable group of children and give parents opportunities to train, volunteer and prepare for employment. Those children eligible for the Early Learning Programme for Two Year Olds are a priority target group for Children's Centres; therefore through the delivery of the programme on Children's Centre sites there will be increased engagement of this group of children who already use the centres. The value of the contract is from the potential income a provider could earn by delivering the programme to eligible two year olds accessing places in their provision, so there is no cost to the City Council as the places are funded directly from goverment. The length of the contact will be 3 years + 3 years + 3 years on the basis that funding will remain as currently stands. Clauses will apply to the contract to protect City Council's interests. Social value considerations have been taken in the development of this service. The procurement process will, in line with the Council's Corporate Commissioning Framework, ensure an emphasis on local employment and supporting local jobs for local people, and support for local carers. This service will link strongly into the Employment Hub through advertising opportunities to local citizens. There will be an emphasis on supporting a thriving sector and the social value that this brings; the proposal focuses on Early Years providers, a number of which are locally based voluntary sector organisations or organisations with corporate social responsibility which supports social value requirements. The initiative will involve local people, partners, employers and suppliers; the service proposal has been developed through consultation with local providers, citizens and key stakeholders as much as possible in line with statutory requirements. There has been consideration of wider benefits to our communities, the service proposal considers the positive effect of a vulnerable young child and their family being able to access the Early Learning Programme for Two Year Olds and the benefits that will bring. Reference Number: 1520, Page No: 3 of 6

4 Other Options Considered: Option 1 Do nothing - This is not an option as the duty to expand places for the Two Year Early Learning Programme is statutory from September Failure by the local authority to secure sufficient places will lead to challenges by the Department for Education and parents. Option 2 Expand the current childcare provision to cater for the Two Year olds on other sites across the City - this is not recommended as the capacity available within current provision does not fulfill the demand. In addition the proposal to allow providers to expand to alternative sites is not in line with financial regulations and therefore could be challenged. Background Papers: None Published Works: Northwest and Aspley/Bells Lane Children's Centres - Presentation of the findings of the Best Value Review - Executive Board Commissioning 25 June 2012 Childcare Services on Children's Centre Sites - Delegated Decision reference /2/2013 Affected Wards: Aspley, Bestwood, Bridge, Bulwell, Clifton North, Clifton South, Dales, St Ann's Colleague / Councillor Interests: None Consultations: Date: 07/03/2014 Ward Councillors: David Mellen Proceed with DDM Those not consulted are not directly affected by the decision. Crime and Disorder Implications: None Equality: EIA not required. Reasons: This is not a new or changing policy, service or function. Decision Type: Portfolio Holder Subject to Call In: Yes Call In Expiry date: 23/06/2014 Reference Number: 1520, Page No: 4 of 6

5 Advice Sought: Legal, Finance, Procurement Legal Advice: The report does not raise any significant legal issues. With regard to the expansion of the current services the Council's Constitution at Contract Procedure Rule 9.8 does permit extensions to contracts where certain conditions are met. Where the contracts were awarded within the last 12 months then this provision may be relied upon. It is understood that 2 contracts were awarded from the beginning of April and therefore are outside of this 12 month period. There is therefore the potential for a challenge to be made against the Council, however the risk of such challenge is considered low on the basis that the expansion forms a small part of the wider childcare provision, the expansion will be in the same premises as the current services are being provided and therefore is unlikely to be a commercial option at this time for other providers. However no further expansion should be considered for the reaminder of the contract term. With regard to the proposed procurement for providers at the new sites legal services will provide support with regard to any legal aspects of the procurement process and will advise on the contract terms. Advice provided by Naomi Vass (Senior Solicitor) on 17/04/2014. Finance Advice: Early Years provision for 2 year olds is funded from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). The 2014/15 DSG non-ringfenced allocation for early learning for 2 year olds ( 7.142m) is based on estimates of eligible children and includes trajectory funding. However, from 2015/16 participation based funding will be introduced and therefore it is important from a financial perspective to get as many children into places as possible. Early Years providers in Nottingham City are paid an hourly rate of 5.00 per child attending the setting. Receipt of funding for the provider is dependent on numbers of children accessing the provision; there is no guaranteed income for the successful provider. The 5 per hour rate is intended to cover the costs of providing the Early Years education including a contribution to overhead costs. The contract negotiations with Early Years providers will need to incorporate agreement on a service charge to be paid to the LA to cover running costs at the centres based on the providers' percentage usage of the given buildings. The LA has received a capital grant of 0.805m for the two year old programme of which the majority is still uncommitted. The successful provider would be eligible to submit a bid for this funding in the same way as other providers in the City. As the provision will be delivered from City Council centres the LA will retain the benefit of any capital works. Advice provided by Kathryn Mair Stevenson (Finance Analyst) on 11/04/2014. Reference Number: 1520, Page No: 5 of 6

6 Procurement Advice: The proposed expansion of the capacity of current childcare contracts to allow for the delivery of the Early Learning Programme for Two Year Olds represents a small part of the wider childcare provision under these contracts, therefore the risk of challenge is considered low. Additionally as the services will be delivered in the same premises as the existing contracted services, this is unlikely be a viable option for other providers. Therefore the proposed expansion is supported from a procurement perspective. The proposed tender for providers to deliver the Early Learning Programme for Two Year Olds within Children's Centres and Play Centres will be managed by the Strategic Procurement Team to ensure a robust and compliant process. The recommendation to delegate authority to approve the outcome of the tender to the Director of Family Community Teams and to delegate authority to sign contracts arising to the Heads of Service for Family Community Teams and Quality and Efficiency will enable a timely transition to the new arrangements following the tender process. Advice provided by Jo Pettifor (Strategic Procurement Manager) on 17/04/2014. Advice provided by Jo Pettifor (Strategic Procurement Manager) on 17/04/2014. Signatures David Mellen (Portfolio Holder for Children's Services) SIGNED and Dated: 09/06/2014 Alison Michalska (Corporate Director for Children and Adults) SIGNED and Dated: 13/06/2014 Reference Number: 1520, Page No: 6 of 6