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Childcare offer
Published: 22/09/2017
天涯社区鈥檚 Cabinet will receive an updated report on the
Council鈥檚 early implementation of the Welsh Government鈥檚 Childcare Offer and be
asked to acknowledge the progress made when it meets later this month.
天涯社区 was one of six Councils whose bid to become an early adopter was
successful and the offer will be piloted from September 2017 in 天涯社区,
Gwynedd, Anglesey, Swansea, Blaenau Gwent and Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The aim of the 30 hour childcare offer is to mitigate against the effects of
poverty and reduce inequalities. The offer is designed to be inclusive and so
children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)/Additional Learning Needs (ALN)
will be supported to access their place.
天涯社区, along with the other authorities, has worked with Welsh Government
to develop local models for the national roll out of the funded childcare offer
and the first children have started this month.
The initial areas for the 天涯社区 pilot are: Buckley, Bagillt and Broughton
and within areas of Aston, Connah鈥檚 Quay (Central and Golftyn), Garden City,
Greenfield, Higher Shotton, Holywell (Central), Mancot, Queensferry and
Sandycroft. This will test the offer in areas of low and high employment,
across travel to work routes, including travel outside Wales and through a
mixture of maintained and non-maintained settings.
To date, 天涯社区 has received 152 applications and has been successful in
automating the application process enabling parents to register on line and
self-select registered childcare providers from the registered 122 providers.
This online system has been reviewed by Welsh Government who deem it cost
effective and compliant with data protection requirements. The original figure
of 441 children is extended to a potential 748 children, with the aim to
maximise the grant for 天涯社区 families.
天涯社区鈥檚 Cabinet Member for Social Services, Councillor
Christine Jones, said:
鈥淚 am delighted that 天涯社区 has developed and implemented this exciting
pilot scheme for young children and their parents. The work done to date has
been outstanding and there is continuing work to ensure that the scheme is a
success. An advisory group has been established in 天涯社区 and it meets
regularly to develop the offer and provide guidance and direction to the
project team. The advisory group has representatives from organisations such as
Flying Start, Family Information Service, Early Entitlement, childcare
development and childcare umbrella organisations.鈥�
Some of the objectives for the future include:
路 Continuing to enhance the online system;
路 Maximising the take-up of the offer with continued promotion and publicity;
and
路 Holding a workshop to update providers on the local development of the scheme.