Issue - meetings

This report sets out an addition to the Capital Programme to fulfil the duty to secure early education places for vulnerable young children and those from low income households, for approval.

Discussion:

This report provided information on the statutory duty to secure early education places for vulnerable young children and those from low income households requires provision for around 1400 children. The reportidentified the number of additional places required, and proposed a capital programme across 2013 and 2014 to ensure that the Council’s statutory duty was met, drawing upon the additional capital grant funding allocated to Medway by the Department for Education (DfE).

The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Councillor Wicks, supported by the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Social Care, Councillor Wildey, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Decision:

a)     The Council agreed that a capital scheme be approved to secure sufficient additional places for young children to meet the authority’s statutory duty.

b)     The Council agreed that, initially, an upper limit of £560,000 is set – equivalent to the additional capital funding allocated by the Department for Education (DfE).

Background:

This report explained that the duty to secure early education places for vulnerable young children and those from low income households required provision for around 1,400 children.

The report identified the number of additional places required and proposed a capital programme across 2013 and 2014, drawing upon the additional capital grant funding allocated to Medway by the Department for Education for this purpose.

It was proposed that Medway adopted a carefully targeted capital programme; focusing primarily on small works that would maximise additional places within good quality local establishments; and supplemented by a small number of projects in targeted localities. This represented a sustainable approach, utilising existing buildings, making improvements to local community infrastructure, and ensuring that places were provided in the communities in which eligible families lived.

Details of the informal consultation undertaken was set out and it was noted that the Cabinet Advisory Group for the Children and Adults Capital Programme had endorsed this report for consideration by Cabinet.

Additions to the capital programme, where the funding source was not ring-fenced, was a matter for Full Council. The Cabinet therefore agreed to consider this as an urgent item to enable this matter to be referred to Full Council on 25 April 2013. The new statutory duty to secure sufficient places for eligible families commences in September 2013 and therefore deferral to a later meeting would not allow sufficient time for works to be carried out prior to the introduction of the duty.

Reasons:

The local authority is obliged to meet the new duty within the Education Act 2011 to secure sufficient early education places for eligible children aged two-years.

The development of a capital programme working with existing good quality providers in the private, voluntary and maintained sectors across the next 12 months will provide a secure basis for expansion of places whilst maintaining a focus on high quality provision for both the child and the family as a whole.