PLA Alliance chief exec Neil Leitch talks funding on BBC

[FSFRebecca]

If you missed the piece on BBC breakfast this morning you can catch up with it here on the iPlayer now. You will need to wind forward to 01:51:00 for the right bit!

PLA on BBC

It's only available to watch for 24 hours - so watch it asap!

[Panders]

Yes I saw this at the time Rebecca - still doesn't get practitioners any further forward however but does go some way to getting the message across to parents who may be interested in the mechanics of, that due to under funding, it may not be that easy to get their 30 hours in their area and why not. That being said, how many parents would be watching at that time? more likely they are engaged with their children at breakfast or something or getting everyone out of the house to work, child minder etc.

 

Of course this stuff needs discussing - but when and where is the crucial part.

[sunnyday]

I watched it 'live' too (whilst contemplating my TDL :rolleyes: )

 

Really wish he would stop 'bandying' about this figure of £4:38.......even I might stop banging on about funding if we received anything like that - try £3.96 Mr Leitch

[FSFRebecca]

Yes I saw this at the time Rebecca - still doesn't get practitioners any further forward however but does go some way to getting the message across to parents who may be interested in the mechanics of, that due to under funding, it may not be that easy to get their 30 hours in their area and why not. That being said, how many parents would be watching at that time? more likely they are engaged with their children at breakfast or something or getting everyone out of the house to work, child minder etc.

 

Of course this stuff needs discussing - but when and where is the crucial part.

Yes of course, although I think BBC breakfast has a pretty wide reach and hopefully grandparents / relatives might help share what they've seen. I think that the issue is being talked about on national news at all is pretty special - hopefully when the APPG gets going in the Autumn there will be even more press coverage!

[FSFRebecca]

I watched it 'live' too (whilst contemplating my TDL :rolleyes: )

 

Really wish he would stop 'bandying' about this figure of £4:38.......even I might stop banging on about funding if we received anything like that - try £3.96 Mr Leitch

Oh dear Sunnyday Although the £4.38 is a lot closer to the actual figure than the £4.94 that was being quoted on the news!

[sunnyday]

Oh dear Sunnyday Although the £4.38 is a lot closer to the actual figure than the £4.94 that was being quoted on the news!

You know that I was asking for opinion quite recently on whether or not to tell parents about our funding level.........I have just quite randomly told our local post mistress :blink: :lol:

Think that I am on a mission now to let the world know.......

 

Was £4.94 what we are meant to be receiving after the Governments injection of cash?

 

£4.38 I could just about cope with......£3.96 not so much

 

I see that some providers are asking for a 'voluntary' contribution now - I think the Nursery owner/manager in this clip was doing so - perhaps I need to go down that route - this actually goes against what I believe is 'right' - the idea of universally available free childcare is a good one in my humble.......but........ SHOW US THE MONEY!

[Panders]

You know that I was asking for opinion quite recently on whether or not to tell parents about our funding level.........I have just quite randomly told our local post mistress :blink: :lol:

Think that I am on a mission now to let the world know.......

 

Was £4.94 what we are meant to be receiving after the Governments injection of cash?

 

£4.38 I could just about cope with......£3.96 not so much

 

I see that some providers are asking for a 'voluntary' contribution now - I think the Nursery owner/manager in this clip was doing so - perhaps I need to go down that route - this actually goes against what I believe is 'right' - the idea of universally available free childcare is a good one in my humble.......but........ SHOW US THE MONEY!

::1a ::1a hmm, many in this area have been requesting "voluntary" contributions for a long long time.

[catma]

However - the BBC is intimating that nurseries HAVE to offer 30 hours.

If a nursery can't make a strong business case for providing the extra hours but is sustainable offering 15 hours would they just do that?

What are the implications if you chose not to deliver additional hours on top of what they do already and presumably are successfully offering??

 

Curious.

Cx

[Pimpernel]

I think the world would be a much better place if people stopped listening to Neil Leitch from the Ministry of Misinformation!

[finleysmaid]

However - the BBC is intimating that nurseries HAVE to offer 30 hours.

If a nursery can't make a strong business case for providing the extra hours but is sustainable offering 15 hours would they just do that?

What are the implications if you chose not to deliver additional hours on top of what they do already and presumably are successfully offering??

 

Curious.

Cx

the nursery they had on last night was in London and had 4 outstanding ofsteds. She is to close after 30 years....I was shouting at the TV "BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO OFFER IT!! She had a good and loyal customer base who were happy with her prices and service....WHY WHY WHY would you do it????? If you are currently charging what you think you need and it is above the funding rate then why????? you might lose some customers but at the moment I doubt they can find enough 30 hour places to meet their needs. There's a lot of misinformation out there and the LEA's are pushing the agenda because they have targets to reach...they seem to have forgotten that if they put us all out of business then they loose their jobs too!

 

I think the world would be a much better place if people stopped listening to Neil Leitch from the Ministry of Misinformation!

Actually I though Neil was doing rather well...he defended us all during the interviews I've seen. What do you think he said that was incorrect??? maybe I missed something?

[Pimpernel]

Whilst I am no fan of the governments funding policy and 30 hour programme, whilst Neil Leitch only focus is on the gap in funding against his very unspecified costs (i.e. what is the actual funding gap on an average hourly rate) he is missing the fact that most providers will just get on with it and make it work (somehow for them).

 

The recent report from early implementers stated that 60% of those providers found increased revenue, instead of asking what made it work for them, he continues to focus on the lesser percentage who said it didn't work without actually asking where were they from, were they operating in a disadvantaged area etc. as I would expect that settings in less affluent areas would face different challenges to those in affluent areas simply in terms of numbers of eligible 30 hour parents.

 

I just wish he and the NDNA would start trying top find examples where providers have made it work for them, because at the end of the day the 30 hour entitlement and its attached funding are not going to go away - its less than six weeks to September , do we rally think government are going to up the funding before then? I think not.

[catma]

the LEA's are pushing the agenda because they have targets to reach...they seem to have forgotten that if they put us all out of business then they loose their jobs too!

 

What are the targets - we don't have any targets... it's totally optional and the decision of the provider in our LA and that's clearly stated in all our briefings!!

[finleysmaid]

What are the targets - we don't have any targets... it's totally optional and the decision of the provider in our LA and that's clearly stated in all our briefings!!

we are being told that there is a statutory responsibility for the LEA's to provide 30 hours childcare and that there are expected numbers of spaces that should be available. We are being pressurised in to providing spaces as we were with the funded two year olds spaces and our borough has been criticised for not having enough of those spaces available.

Perhaps it's just the way it has been promoted? not sure but I know there have been lots of conversations about whether you can say no!

[catma]

We have a statutory childcare sufficiency duty but it is still totally optional for a provider to offer the additional hours. The 2 year olds is a bit different as there is a DfE mechanism to identify and check how many of the eligible children are actually placed - this is part of our CC monitoring targets but additional hours for working parents...not a target for us!!

Cx

[finleysmaid]

We have a statutory childcare sufficiency duty but it is still totally optional for a provider to offer the additional hours. The 2 year olds is a bit different as there is a DfE mechanism to identify and check how many of the eligible children are actually placed - this is part of our CC monitoring targets but additional hours for working parents...not a target for us!!

Cx

i wonder if someone at our lea has got their wires crossed then ....definitely being pushed in our area...the childminders have had numerous meetings regarding this!

[purplewednesday1]

I think the world would be a much better place if people stopped listening to Neil Leitch from the Ministry of Misinformation!

I think that's a bit harsh. The PLA and NDNA have worked really hard over the last few months to raise the profile of providers who are looking to implement the new scheme. Although there are many who will make it work, it will be at a cost - either to their business or to the parents of other children who will inevitably pay more to support the cross-subsidisation necessary to make it work. The point is that the hourly rate isn't enough and those providers who offer a shorter day or who don't have a wide age range of children will find it hard to make a decent offer that works for them and for their parents. I think the reporting on the piece was balanced and explained the situation that providers find themselves in accurately. I think Neil Leitch managed well and put the sector view across clearly. Of course we will try and make it work - that doesn't make it right, and parents need to know that. Which 'Ministry' do you think Mr Leitch is part of? The PLA and NDNA are both membership organisations without government affiliation.

[sunnyday]

i wonder if someone at our lea has got their wires crossed then ....definitely being pushed in our area...the childminders have had numerous meetings regarding this!

Agreed - also being pushed hard in Kent.........