You are here: News New tool to help local authorities assess local childcare market

26th March 2018
By Mark Bou Mansour

The Family and Childcare Trust, supported by the Mayor of London, have developed a Childcare Sufficiency Assessment Template to make it easier for local authorities across England to fulfil their statutory duty to assess their local childcare market. Local authorities must assess whether they have enough childcare locally, but currently there is a high level of variation in how these assessments are made. This tool aims to make it easier for local authorities to do this, and to make sure that they assessment is high quality. Good information about the local childcare market means that local authorities know what gaps there are locally and so can take positive action to fill these gaps.

It will also make it easier to look at whether there is enough childcare across a region or a number of local authorities. If local authorities are all using the same template, the information can be collated far more easily.

From today, for London local authorities, borough data on early years providers and places, take up of the free early entitlement and providers Ofsted ratings is available on the new London Early Years Datastore.

Ellen Broomé, CEO of the Family and Childcare Trust, said:

“Childcare is as vital as the rails and roads to making our country run: it boosts children’s outcomes, supports parents to work and provides our economy with a reliable workforce. High quality information about the local childcare market is vital in understanding when families are facing shortages and meeting these needs.”

-ENDS-

Contact: Mark Bou Mansour, Communications and Campaigns Manager, Family and Childcare Trust, telephone: 020 7940 7535, mobile: 07538 334 772, mark@familyandchildcaretrust.org.

CSA template

Notes to Editor:

  1. Today, the Family and Childcare Trust release two other reports supported by the Mayor of London: Childcare and early education funding in London; and Experiences of former childminders in London.

  2. The Mayor of London has launched a consultation on Early Years in London, closing on 28 May 2018  www.london.gov.uk/early-years-consultation

  3. Further information on the GLA’s early years plans and the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment template for London’s local authorities can be found at  www.london.gov.uk/early-years

  4. The London Early Years Datastore can be found at https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-early-years-datastore-for-childcare-sufficiency-assessments--csa-

About the Family and Childcare Trust

The Family and Childcare Trust works to make the UK a better place for families by bringing together what we learn from our on the ground parent-led programmes and our research to campaign for solutions that parents want and need. We focus on childcare and early years to make a difference to families’ lives now and in the long term.

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