Appendix 1 SSSAAANNNDDDWWWEEELLLLLL MMMEEETTTRRROOOPPPOOOLLLIIITTTAAANNN BBBOOORRROOOUUUGGGHHH CCCOOOUUUNNNCCCIIILLL DRAFT 22001111 CCHHIILLDDCCAARREE SSUUFFFFIICCIIEENNCCYY AASSSSEESSSSMMEENNTT Produced by: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Sandwell Early Years and Childcare Unit Training & Development Centre Popes Lane Oldbury B69 4 PJ Tel: 0121 5694960 E‐mail: [email protected] Website: www.sandwell.gov.uk/earlyyears Contents Page Page No. Legal Framework 3 Methodology 5 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment Process 8 Sandwell Sub Areas- Core Offer Partnerships 9 Children and Families in Sandwell: 11 Population 11 Ethnicity 13 Migration 14 Vulnerable Children 15 Families and Childcare 19 Lone Parents 20 Teenage Mothers 21 Economic Factors 22 Child poverty 26 Comparative Childcare Data 28 Quality of Childcare 30 Analysis of Employer Questionnaire 39 Feedback from Parents Focus Groups 43 Analysis of Childcare Providers Questionnaire 48 Sandwell’s Supply and Demand of Childcare 55 Supply and Demand for Free Early Learning 63 Childcare Needs of Specific Groups 69 Families with children with disability 69 Childcare needs of Lone Parents 72 Childcare needs of armed Forces Families 74 Childcare for Older Children (11-14 years) 74 Childcare needs of BME 76 Looked After Children 77 Analysis of Core Offer Partnerships 79 Cradley Heath 79 Friar Park 83 Harvills and Hateley Heath 86 Oldbury North 90 Oldbury South 93 Rowley Regis 96 Smethwick Cape Hill 100 Smethwick North 103 Smethwick South 106 Tipton North 109 Tipton South 113 Tividale 116 Wednesbury North 120 West Bromwich Central 123 West Bromwich North 127 Consultation 130 Conclusion 131 Recommendations 134 2 Legal Framework The Childcare Act 2006 clarifies in legislation the vital role local authorities should play as strategic leaders in facilitating the childcare market. The Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA) involves analysing the demand for childcare; mapping the supply of childcare and identifying any gaps in childcare provision within the borough. Gaps can be considered as: ¾ Geographical Gap – where a geographical area has a general shortage of supply ¾ Income Gap- where there is a shortage of affordable childcare for the income groups populating an area; ¾ Specific Need Gaps- where there is a shortage of suitable places for disabled children, or children with other specific needs or requirements including those from particular faiths or community group ¾ Time Gaps – where there is a shortage of childcare at a time that parents would wish to use childcare ¾ Age Gaps- where there is a shortage of childcare suitable to meet the needs and requirements of a certain age group. ¾ Type Gaps – where there is a shortage in the type of childcare for which parents maybe expressing a preference For the purpose of undertaking the CSA childcare is defined as ‘childcare which allows parents or carers to undertake education, work or other regular commitments. Formal regulated1 childcare is any care, early learning or other supervised activity carried out by someone, with no parental responsibility for that child at a setting registered by Ofsted. Unregulated/informal childcare is carried out by friends or relatives for convenience purposes and without reward. For the purpose of CSA, we refer to childcare as the following: Childminder - provides care for child in childminder's own home Nanny / Home Childcarer - provides care in the child's own home Pre-school / Playgroup - provides care for less than 4hrs in a community setting Day Nursery - provides care for more than 4 hrs (usually 7am to 6pm) in a community setting Before School Club - provides care before school starts After School Club - provides care after school finishes After School Activities - a range of activities (i.e. dance/drama/sport/homework club) after school on a regular basis Holiday Playscheme - provides care during the school holidays Family / Friend - provides care for your child for no reward 1 Ofsted registered 3 The CSA must cover the borough as a whole but also on locally defined sub areas. Following the assessment of the childcare market the local authority must secure, as far as reasonably practicable, sufficient childcare. Sufficient Childcare under the Childcare Act 2006, is defined as “sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in the local authority area who require childcare in order to enable them to: a) Take up, or remain in work b) To undertake education or training which could reasonably be expected to assist them to obtain work “ In determining whether there is sufficient childcare the local authority: a) Must have regard to the needs of parents in their area for – i) Childcare, in respect of which the childcare element of working tax credit is payable ii) Childcare that is suitable for disabled children b) May have regard for childcare which they expect to be available outside their area The Childcare Act 2006 also places a duty on the local authority to secure sufficient nursery education places for 3 and 4 year olds. The local authority has strategic responsibility to plan, support and commission childcare and should only provide childcare directly if no other person is willing to do so or it is appropriate for the local authority to do so. Local Authorities are required to complete a CSA every three years and to review this at least annually. This first CSA was completed in 2008 and a Childcare Strategic Action Plan (CSAP) was developed from the recommendations in the CSA. The CSAP was monitored on a quarterly basis to ensure actions were being achieved. Subsequent reviews were undertaken in 2009 and 2010 and recommendations from these were also fed into the Childcare Strategic Action Plan The Family Information Service (FIS), in conjunction with Research Sandwell, has undertaken this second CSA. The Family Information Service is part of the Early Years and Childcare Unit, which is within Sandwell Council’s Children and Families Services. MEL Research Consultancy carried out focus groups with parents and children and young people. Nicola Stubbs Employer Engagement Consultant carried out focus groups with employers and childcare providers. 4 Methodology In undertaking the Childcare Sufficiency a number of research methods were adopted. These included: Desktop ¾ Demographic data from the Office for National Statistics and Sandwell MBC (Research Sandwell) Childcare data from Ofsted and Sandwell Family Information Service Questionnaires Four different surveys were done using questionnaire: A Parent Survey, which was targeted at parents of children within the different age ranges. A Provider Survey, which was targeted at all Ofsted registered childcare providers held on a database by the Local Authority. An Employers Survey, which was targeted at businesses in Sandwell. A survey was sent to Extended School’s Co-ordinators to gather data on services being provided through extended services which are not registered with Ofsted and was deemed as a ‘safe place to be’ – After School Activities. Parent Survey Parents Surveys were carried out in May/June10. It was decided that a carefully planned and structured method would be adopted for the parent’s survey in order to prevent duplication and low responses from some areas. Research Sandwell identified how many responses would be required; this was agreed at 1,067 at borough level to have +/-3% confidence in the results, at the 95% confidence level. It was further determined that we would require at least 96 responses per CoOP to have a +/- 10% confidence in the results, this therefore gave us an overall target of 1440 responses. The amount sent out was just over 660 per CoOP this was divided up to reflect: 0-5 (Children Centres) 5-11 (Primary Schools) 11-14 (Secondary Schools) All Special Schools were targeted to reach as many parents as possible that have a child with SEN or disability. All schools and children centres that were identified to support the consultations process were visited and the following discussed with them: The purpose of the survey How many questionnaires to be sent via the setting 5 Support parents would require if English is not their first language or if they have poor literacy skills. 10,000 questionnaires were sent out with a deadline for responses on 17th June 2010. The initial response was 1070, in order to increase the number of responses and to achieve the required amount for each CoOP a booster was undertaken in July 2010. The process for the booster was: In CoOPs where the responses were below the minimum of 96 responses additional questionnaires were distributed. These were sent out via children centres where children centre staff identifying parents who indicated that they had not responded to the questionnaire. To minimise the risk of duplication different schools in the CoOP were used for the booster. A further 5000 questionnaires were sent out with a deadline of 23rd July 10; a final response of 1161 was achieved overall. SNAP Surveys undertook the data entry and cross tabs, analysis of the questionnaire was completed by FIS. Childcare Provider Survey Questionnaires were taken out by Early Years and Childcare Unit Development Workers, with a total of 236 questionnaires being completed out of 519 providers on the FIS database. Research Sandwell undertook the data entry and provided data tables for the FIS to analyse. Employer Survey Employers were surveyed between April and November 09, 500 questionnaires were sent out and 64 responded. Face to Face Parent Focus Group - MEL Research Consultancy