Posted on 2nd Mar
Early years childcare providers in Nottinghamshire will receive a £1.7m funding boost in 2020-21. The increase in early years funding was approved by the county council following a government announcement to increase allocations for early years places to councils from 1st April.
While some other local authorities are diverting unspent childcare funding to plug budget gaps in other areas, Nottinghamshire County Council said it was using a significant amount from funding provided by central government for local childcare services.
This means that extra money will go to childcare providers, increasing the hourly rate they receive for eligible 2-year olds and for 3 and 4-year-old children.
Karen Richards, chair of the Nottinghamshire Early Years Consultation group, said: “This is extremely welcome news. The cost of providing childcare continues to increase for many different reasons, including the planned increase in the national minimum wage and national living wage in April this year.
“I’m pleased that more funding will be released to the childcare sector, which will help providers to meet their rising costs.”
An additional £200,000 is also available next year for Nottinghamshire County Council to fund a range of services and activities designed to support and develop the early years workforce.
Nottinghamshire County Council plans to use its resources to fund more professional early years staff so that they can better support 2, 3 and 4-year-old children.
Coun Philip Owen, Children and Young people’s Committee chairman, added: “I’m pleased that we have agreed to release this extra money to support childcare in Nottinghamshire.
“Caring for children is a very valuable job. Many parents rely on childcare workers, and we need to ensure that this area gets the funding it needs.
“At a time when many other councils are cutting back or diverting funding from this area, I’m happy to say that we are bucking the trend, to help support this vital work.”
