Local Authority Childcare Sufficiency Support Contract

Description

This contract is for the provision of expert professional services (including peer support) to support local authorities (LAs) in fulfilling their statutory sufficiency duties. The support will be delivered in the Financial Years 2022-25 and will relate to supporting the delivery of sufficient childcare and early education places across local areas to meet parental demand for the early years entitlements and to ensure that there are sufficient places for children aged 0-14 (or up to 18 for disabled children) to enable parents to work or participate in education or training for employment. The contractor will offer support to LAs in restoring or improving childcare sufficiency in their local areas through a mixed package of tailored support to diagnose sufficiency issues and assist LAs in implementing and embedding sustainable improvements. This will be delivered by: 1. Providing reactive support and challenge to LAs identified as failing (or at imminent risk of failing) in their duty to secure sufficient childcare for parents to work or participate in education or training, and for children eligible for the early education entitlements. 2. Providing proactive preventative and improvement support and challenge to LAs to facilitate the maintenance or improvement of local childcare sufficiency. 3. Where appropriate, administering discrete projeejct funding to support LAs to implement recommendations made during the reactive or proactive support activity at 1 and 2 above where available finances are evidencable as a barrier to achieving the desired outcome. 4. Providing an overarching project management function to enable 1, 2 and 3 above. This will include organisation of contract management activity including reporting and engaging with DfE, and evaluating support activity and funding outcomes. Lot 1: Local Authority Childcare Sufficiency Support Contract The Supplier shall deliver a comprehensive and coherent package of delivery support (including challenge, where necessary) to LAs in fulfilling their sufficiency duties and to ensure that there is enough childcare across local areas to enable all young children to access high-quality early years provision, to meet the demand for childcare from parents of school-aged children (see Schedule 2 (Specification) for a full definition of LA sufficiency duties), and to deliver the expanded early years entitlements from April 2024. This will include peer support where appropriate and regional or national events by the Supplier to facilitate the sharing of expertise and best practice between LAs. To achieve this, the Supplier will: A. Provide reactive advice, support and challenge to LAs identified as failing (or at imminent risk of failing) in their duty to secure sufficient childcare for working parents and children eligible for the early education entitlements, or LAs identified as needing support in their planning to deliver the expanded early years entitlements. B. Provide events, materials, advice, support and challenge to LAs to facilitate the maintenance, planning for or improvement of local childcare sufficiency, including the expanded early years entitlements (for the entitlements or for other childcare where this directly supports parents to work or participate in education or training). C. Where appropriate, provide additional financial support to LAs to implement recommendations made during support activity, where available finances are evidencable as a barrier to achieving the desired outcome and where this activity forms part of a support package agreed before 6th November 2023. D. Provide an overarching project management function to enable and report on the 3 elements above.