Early Years, Childcare and Play Services Inclusion Funding



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Early Years, Childcare and Play - Early Years Inclusion Panel

Guidance for Professionals, Children’s Centres and Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) Providers:

Introduction

It is the expectation of the local authority that providers work positively to ensure that they are offering inclusive services which meet the needs of all the children[1] in their care. However, it is recognised that additional support may, on occasion, enable providers to improve the quality of care they offer for children at Early Years Action Plus, School Action Plus or who have a statement of SEN.

The Early Years Inclusion Panel is convened by the Department of Children’s Services and meets on a monthly basis to consider requests for Children’s Centre Plus placements for children 0-3/3-5 years and to allocate Early Years Inclusion Funding to enhance staffing levels within a PVI setting at particular times of the day/sessions.

The Early Years Inclusion Panel is operated in partnership with other agencies and includes membership from:

⇨ Bradford Early Years, Childcare and Play x 2

⇨ Education Bradford x 2

⇨ Voluntary Sector x 1 (from either Pre-School Learning Alliance or Bradford Under Fives Association)

⇨ Children’s Centre Plus – 1 x Headteacher/Manager

⇨ Health Representatives x 2 (Airedale and Bradford NHS Trust)

⇨ Social Care

The panel is chaired by a Senior Manager from the local authority, who has voting rights and the authority to make the final decision on a request.

Children’s Centre Plus placements

There are currently six Children’s Centres who have additional resources to provide for those children aged 0-5 years who are either disabled or have identified additional needs under the SEN Code of Practice at Early Years Action Plus. The aim of these Children’s Centres is to provide a range of high quality services that support both the child’s and family’s development in a welcoming, stimulating, inclusive and positive environment.

The Children’s Centre Plus’ enable all disabled children attending them to have the opportunity to access the facilities and resources available. Observation and assessment of the children clearly informs the planning and resourcing of the provision. They also provide opportunities to support parents/carers through access to a range of activities and information, which could also include outreach worker support.

Early Years Inclusion Funding

Early Years Inclusion Funding is available to support the inclusion of disabled children attending Children’s Centres and PVI settings, including childminders, but excluding maintained nursery classes/schools. If there are some exceptional costs involved in making provision for a child with significant needs it may be appropriate for providers to apply to the Early Years Inclusion Panel (EYIP) for a contribution towards these costs. Early Years Inclusion Funding is intended to contribute towards the cost of providing additional support to enhance the staffing levels in the setting.

Early Years Inclusion Funding supports:

⇨ Access to the free early education entitlement for disabled 3 and 4 year olds in PVI settings (excluding maintained nursery classes/schools); it does not include short breaks.

⇨ Access to the 2 Year Old Offer (2 year old free entitlement) for disabled children in PVI settings; it does not include short breaks.

⇨ Childcare for working parents/carers, parents/carers in training and/or those parents/carers actively looking to access training or work who have a disabled child aged 0-18 years.

Criteria for Early Years Inclusion Funding:

⇨ The provision is registered with Ofsted as a paid for childcare provision (0-19 yrs) on either the Early Years Register or the Childcare Register or is legally exempt from this registration.

⇨ The child is under 19 years of age.

⇨ The child is a resident of Bradford i.e. parents/carers pay Council tax to Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

⇨ Priority will be given to Looked After Children.

⇨ The child is attending the setting specifically for childcare purposes or for their free entitlement and/or the provider is in receipt of nursery education funding/2 Year Old Offer for the named child.

⇨ The level of support requested reflects the needs of the child.

⇨ There is evidence that a graduated response has taken place, with evidence of a clear review process.

⇨ The parent/carer of the child has been a partner in the whole process.

⇨ Where appropriate an EA1 has been received for the child.

The Early Years Inclusion Panel Application Process

1. To request a Children’s Centre Plus placement and/or Early Years Inclusion Funding please complete a ‘Request for Enhanced Provision’ form. In order to avoid unnecessary delay please ensure that all paperwork is accurate, complete, and that parents have signed the forms prior to submission. Ensure all the compulsory supporting documentation is submitted with the request – see Appendix A ‘EYIP documentation checklist’. Incomplete paperwork is likely to result in the request not being considered by the panel. The completed form and documentation should then be forwarded by post to; EYIP c/o The Admin Team, 1 City Road, Bradford, BD8 8ER, as soon as possible so that the process can begin. The deadline for submitting requests and documentation is noon on the Friday prior to the monthly EYIP meeting. Requests received after the deadline will be submitted to the following EYIP meeting.

2. Requests are discussed at the monthly EYIP meeting and the panel will assess the needs of the child based on the information provided on the request form and supporting documentation. Consideration will also be given to the impact on the practitioners working practice when considering an appropriate level of support. Allocation of funding will be subject to the availability of Early Years Inclusion Panel Funding at the time of consideration by the panel.

3. It is the responsibility of the setting to ensure that request forms are completed accurately. Any underpayment as a result of incorrect information provided cannot be subsequently rectified. Any over payment must be returned.

In exceptional circumstances emergency applications for short term funding may be considered by the chair of the panel plus 1 identified panel member between meeting dates. However, providers need to be aware that interim decisions are only temporary and therefore funding cannot be guaranteed for the longer term until the application has been considered at a full panel meeting.

4. Following your application to the panel:

Within 3 weeks of the panel the referrer will receive an EYIP Individual Outcome Summary Sheet informing them of the outcome of the request and, if applicable, a Service Level Agreement. Please note that it may not be possible to discuss the outcome of the request until the EYIP Individual Outcome Summary Sheet has been received.

Service Level Agreements

If the setting has been allocated funding then payment will be linked to a Service Level Agreement. This will detail how long the funding has been granted for and whether any terms and conditions have been attached to the funding e.g. whether there is a requirement for staff to access specific training. Please be aware that the level of funding initially allocated may well be reduced over time as the panel anticipate that the practitioners in the setting will be developing their inclusive practice and therefore the level of need for additional support is likely to reduce accordingly. The setting is responsible for keeping a record of children in receipt of Early Years Inclusion Funding, including their date of birth, home post code and record of attendance. You may be requested to provide evidence of this for audit purposes. The setting is responsible for the recruitment and employment of any additional staff members required to deliver support. You may be requested to provide evidence that you have enhanced staffing levels to include a specific child in your setting i.e. evidence of the work patterns of the practitioners involved.

Service Level Agreements should be returned promptly, as they expire two months from the date of issue and payments cannot normally be made after the expiry date.

Early Years, Childcare and Play must be informed if there is an underspend of the funding allocated.

Further requests for funding can be made to EYIP prior to the expiration of a SLA by submitting a ‘Request for continuation of Early Years Inclusion Funding’ form.

The EYQISP Team supporting a setting will be able to offer advice and support, and will monitor the impact of the support and/or funding received through the Early Years Inclusion Funding. In order to facilitate effective liaison between practitioners and support teams, providers are required to keep a visit record of all specialist and inclusion officers visiting the setting.

All registered providers of childcare are required by law to comply with the Equality Act 2010, which replaced the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in October 2010. For further information see:

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[1] The use of the word “child/children” refers to both children and young people throughout this document.

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