Supporting disadvantaged families through free early education and childcare entitlements in England

The Department should make better use of available data to investigate routinely the geographic variations in take-up of the entitlements and availability and quality of provision. It should use this analysis, alongside its existing qualitative intelligence, to explore the reasons for variations and to challenge local authorities to secure improvements in localities with especially low levels of take-up, supply or quality.

The Department should work with local authorities to develop a better understanding of the approaches that work best in increasing take-up of the entitlements by disadvantaged families. This work should include collaborating with local authorities to evaluate the impact of both national and local actions to improve take-up, promoting those measures that are most effective, and assessing whether the actions needed to increase take-up are affordable and sustainable.

The Department should assess the extent to which additional charges are acting as a barrier to families taking up the entitlements. This assessment should cover what parents are being asked to pay for and help the Department better understand whether additional charges are adversely affecting access to entitlement places. The Department should request local authorities take action where it finds that charges are not in line with the guidance.

The Department should strengthen its evidence base on provider costs in order to build confidence that its funding rates can sustain supply and quality at acceptable levels. It should use this evidence to inform future Spending Reviews. In communicating its funding rates, the Department should make clear its assumptions including the extent to which future cost rises have been considered and whether it expects providers to become more efficient.

The Department should identify how it can best incentivise the provision of sufficient high-quality entitlement places in deprived areas. This should include reviewing the effectiveness of the existing supplement arrangements and establishing why local authorities are making only limited use of them. The Department should also explore how to encourage providers to offer flexible provision to meet the needs of parents who, for example, work atypical hours.