Background and Summary Part 5: Childcare and Schools
59.In January 2013, the Government published ‘More Great Childcare: raising quality and giving parents more choice’ (MGC) which sought to tackle issues of affordability and availability of childcare. The report included a proposal to remove the requirement for schools to register separately with Ofsted when offering provision to two-year-olds. Since September 2012, schools have been able to accept two-year-olds, but they must register separately with Ofsted before they are able to do so. However, schools do not have do this when they take three- and four-year-olds as there is an existing exemption in section 34(2) of the Childcare Act 2006, which did not extend to the provision for two-year-olds.
60.In July 2013, the Government consulted on the “Regulation of Childcare” to seek views on reforming the regulatory system including removing burdens and simplifying processes for childcare providers. The Government response to the public consultation, which was published in February 2014, set out proposals including allowing childminders to operate on suitable non-domestic premises for up to half their time, and allowing providers to register multiple premises in a single registration process (or to add additional premises to an existing registration).
61.In March 2014, the Government announced that the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) would be introduced in April 2015. The aim of the EYPP is to improve the quality of early years provision for disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds. The Government consulted on detailed proposals for the EYPP in the summer 2014, including checking eligibility and how the funding should be used. The Government’s response to the EYPP consultation, which was published in October 2014, set out the Government’s proposal to enable local authorities to use the existing Eligibility Checking Service to check children’s eligibility for the EYPP.
62.The measures included in Part 5 of the Act seek to enact these proposals.