challenges facing the mixed economy in delivering quality and

sufficiency

10 September 2007

Purnima TanukuChief Executive

who we are

• National membership organisation for children’s day nurseries across the UK

• Registered charity since 1999

• Promoting quality in early years

what we do• Voice of the sector – national and local

Government and media

• Support, information and advice

• Member consultation

• Conferences, nursery awards, seminars and forums

• Campaigns for healthy lifestyles for children

• Training and Professional Development

• Quality Counts scheme

key drivers

• Government strategy

• Rise in female workforce – 52% of mothers with children under 5 now work

• Increase in the age of new mothers – 50% of births to mothers over 30

• Working parent preferences – 20% of under 5s attend a day nursery, 31% use relatives, 24% use parents, 18% use a registered childminder, 7% use other forms of childcare

the UK childcare market

• 15,000 day nurseries provide care and education for nearly 1 million under-5s

• The day nursery sector employs over 200,000 people

• The average cost across sectors of a full-time place for a child under 2 years old is £138 per week.

management

2001

2003

2005

Day nurseries

Nat Cen/BMRB

number of group providers

5,500

7,800

9,964

11,811 12,600

15,610

11,892

14,000

9,966 9,650

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Full day care providers Sessional providers

Nat Cen/BMRB

use of formal childcare - how does this vary for children of different age

groups?

17

30 31

35

58

86

23

27

1821

68

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

%

All 0 - 2 3 - 4 5 - 7 8 - 11 12 - 14

Base: all children

2001 2004

Nat Cen/BMRB

what types of providers are families using – and how has this changed?

7

8

10

15

6

7

5

4

1 1

2 2

6

12

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

%

Day nursery Nursery/receptionclass

Playgroup Childminder Nanny/au pair Babysitter Breakfast/afterschool club

Base: all families

2001 2004

Nat Cen/BMRB

age of children in day nurseries

3%

4%

20%

28%

24%

21%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

8 years or over

5-7 year olds

4 year olds

3 year olds

2 year olds

Under 2 year olds

Nat Cen/BMRB

percentage of Children – part-time and full-time – by age group in day nurseries Graph 2: percentage of children - part-time and full-time - by age group in day nurseries

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

<12 months 12-24 months 2-3 year olds 3&4 year olds

Age Group

Per

cen

tag

e

Part-time

Full-time

average UK full-time nursery fees

2007 figures, per week (5 days)

• Local authorities £127.50

• Voluntary £115.00

• Private sector £143.00

Overall average £138.00

• Average occupancy rate across the UK is 77.5%

profitability – day nurseries

2001

2003

2005

Nat Cen/BMRB

policy implications

• Children’s Centres

• Children’s Centres and Extended Schools

• Stand alone PVI settings

• Parental Choice

• Flexibility

• Affordability

• Sustainability

• Quality

expectations

• Foundation Stage to be in place by 2008

• 3,500 Children’s Centres by 2010

• Every Children’s Centre to have EYP graduate by 2010

• Every full day care setting to have EYP graduate by 2015

challenges affecting the mixed economy

• Affordability and sustainability

• Duplication and lack of real engagement

• Local authorities and childcare market

management

• Partnerships in rhetoric but not in reality

• Children’s Centres and extended schools

challenges affecting the mixed economy

• Level playing field• Nursery Education funding• Business rates• Staffing ratios• VAT

• Workforce development• Transformation Fund

• Quality and Outcomes• Negative PR

“I want us to listen and engage the talents of school leaders, parents, children, businesses and the voluntary sector. It is their voice and their expertise that should ultimately inform the future policy, mission and vision of this new department. It is their voice and their expertise that will help us tackle the very acute challenges we still face.”

Ed Balls, Secretary of Statedepartment for children, schools and families