Issue - meetings

Cllr Stephen Davies, sought Cabinet approval for Gloucestershire’s Childcare Sufficiency Duty report (2022)

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Approve the Childcare Sufficiency Duty report 2022 and delegate authority to the Executive Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children's Safeguarding and EarlyYears to make any final changes prior to publication.

Cllr Stephen Davies, sought Cabinet approval for Gloucestershire’s Childcare Sufficiency Duty report (2022)

Interim analysis carried out in 2022 outlined that there were currently 677 childcare settings, comprising 310 childminders, 155 day nurseries, 198 pre-school, 14 nursery units in independent schools. There were 15,209 childcare places available for children aged 0-5 years in Gloucestershire. Since the data in the previous sufficiency report (end Feb 2021) to the end of May 2022, there had been a 2.8% decrease in the number of early years’ providers and a 1.2% increase in the overall number of places

Areas of immediate concern were Stroud and Dursley. This was being addressed and it was anticipated that additional childcare places would be available in both areas by the end of the year.  Work was underway to further assess supply and demand of childcare provision for children with SEND and children of Asylum-seeking families and to ensure that all childcare provision could meet the cultural needs of all children.

The quality of childcare in Gloucestershire was high:  88.5% of child minders and 91.9% of day care providers are graded ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. 2.6% (14) were currently rated as Requires Improvement and 1.7% (5) as InadequateSafeguarding knowledge and practice had been a common theme leading to judgements of ‘Inadequate’.  In acknowledgement of this, an audit of safeguarding knowledge, practice and processes in the Early years’ sector has been undertaken and a subsequent improvement plan developed.

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Approve the Childcare Sufficiency Duty report 2022 and delegate authority to the Executive Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children's Safeguarding and EarlyYears to make any final changes prior to publication.