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The Commons Public Accounts Committee publishes its 86th Report of Session 2010-12, The free entitlement to education for three and four year olds, as HC 1893.

The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, recently said:

"We welcome the fact that over 800,000 three and four year olds are now being provided with access to free education. Early years provision has expanded significantly since this policy was introduced a decade ago.

However, while the Department for Education and local authorities have concentrated on ensuring that places for children are available, there has been less attention on how value for money can be improved from the funding, some £1.9 billion in 2011-12.

High-quality early years education can have lasting benefits for children and results at age five have improved. But the Department needs to get to grips with why there is little improvement at the age of seven and what happens between the ages of five and seven to lessen the effect.
 

It is essential that all parents know exactly what their children are entitled to, and that it should be completely free. Too many families are missing out because parents are not being given the information they need. The Department must take steps to ensure that all families receive their entitlement, and that parents are able to compare providers so that they can make informed choices about what is best for their child. 

It is unacceptable for any parent to be charged for what should be a free entitlement. It is also completely unacceptable that some parents cannot access the free education unless they agree to pay 'top-up' fees for more hours. The Department must take action to prevent this.

Children from disadvantaged families are reported to benefit the greatest from early years education.  But it is the children from these families who have the lowest levels of take-up and poorer areas that have the lowest levels of high quality services.

The Department should identify which local authorities have successfully increased take-up in disadvantaged groups and encourage other authorities to follow suit. It also needs to say how it will use the funding system to improve services in deprived areas.

The Department is not properly monitoring how taxpayers' money is being spent, and has done very little to understand the differences in costs and outcomes between local authorities. My Committee expects this to change."

Margaret Hodge was speaking as the Committee published its 86th Report of the 2010-12 Session which, on the basis of evidence from the Department for Education and a panel of expert witnesses, examined the free entitlement to education for three and four year olds.

The Department for Education (the Department) wants all three and four year olds to receive high quality early years education. The primary purpose of this education is to support children’s development. To achieve this goal the Department provides funding for local authorities to pay for three and four year olds to receive their entitlement to 15 hours of free education each week (the entitlement). The Department devolves delivery to local authorities and providers but it is responsible for the overall value for money from the system.

In 2011-12 the Department’s estimated funding for the entitlement of £1.9 billion provided over 800,000 three and four year olds with access to free education; an estimated annual allocation of approximately £2,300 per child. The Department, working alongside local authorities and providers, should be commended for the work done over the past decade to increase the provision of early years education.

While the Department and local authorities have focused on ensuring places for children are available, there has been less attention on how value for money can be secured and improved. We are concerned that the Department has, as yet, done very little to understand the costs and outcomes in different local authorities and has not  properly monitored how taxpayers’ money has been spent. Witnesses assured us that this would improve.

Research suggests that high-quality early years education can have a lasting positive impact on educational achievement, but the higher the quality the greater the cost will often be, due to the extra cost of employing qualified  staff... While there is evidence of educational improvement at age five, the evidence that this is sustained is questionable.. The Department needs to do more to understand how educational benefits can be lasting and why outcomes at age seven have shown such little improvement.  

There is not enough good information for parents to make informed choices about early years education. Data on performance of local providers is not easily available to parents and parents are too often unsure about what exactly their children are entitled to. We are particularly concerned at reports that some families are still not receiving the entitlement free of charge; it is important that all parents know what the entitlement is and that it should be provided completely free. It is not enough for the Department to respond to complaints. It must actively take steps to ensure parents enjoy their legitimate right to free pre-school education for their children.

The Department considers that early years education has the greatest benefit for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. However disadvantaged families have the lowest levels of take-up and deprived areas have the lowest levels of high quality services. The Department needs to identify and share good practice from those local authorities which are having the most success in increasing take-up amongst disadvantaged groups and providing high quality early years education. They should, in particular, learn from the almost universal high quality of early years education offered by nursery schools.

Further Information

• About Parliament: Select Committees