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by Shannon Pite

The Early Years Alliance has filed a Freedom of Information (FoI) Act request to the Department for Education (DfE) as part of an investigation into the impact of the government’s school-based nursery policy on private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years providers.

Earlier this month, the DfE announced the first wave of 300 school-based nurseries to receive government funding to repurpose spare space for new or expanded nursery provision.

The government has described wider plans to launch 3,000 school-based nurseries as at the “heart” of its Plan for Change.

However, the Alliance has voiced concerns about the impact of the policy on private, PVI early years providers, including the potential for PVI settings operating on school grounds to be forced to find new premises at short notice because the school in question has decided to open their own nursery provision.

DfE guidance for schools on establishing school-based nursery provision states: â€śLeasing to PVIs and childminders can be mutually beneficial, offering childcare and additional income for schools. However, you should consider future needs of the space before you enter an agreement.

“Long leases with PVIs or childminders grant exclusive possession, limiting reoccupation until lease end. Licences offer more flexibility and are easier to terminate but must be carefully structured to avoid being considered leases.”

The Alliance states that it has been made aware of a number of recent instances of primary schools terminating leases with PVI providers operating on their premises to instead open their own provision so they can apply for or obtain funding under the new government grant.

The organisation’s FoI request asks:

• How many of the primary schools awarded funding under the school-based nursery capital grant have had private, voluntary or independent early years providers operating on their premises over the past two years?
• How many of the primary schools awarded funding under the school-based nursery capital grant have served notice on private, voluntary or independent early years providers operating on their premises over the past two years?
• How many of the school-based nurseries awarded funding under the school-based nursery capital grant are within two miles of a registered PVI early years nursery, pre-school or childminding setting?

Commenting, Alliance CEO Neil Leitch said: “We have been repeatedly assured by government that school-based nursery provision is intended to work alongside, and not replace, PVI provision, and that only schools that can demonstrate that there is a local need for additional places would be awarded funding.

“And yet, despite this, we are now receiving reports of high-quality PVI providers being forced to seek new premises – or worse still, close altogether – because the school whose premises they were previously operating from has told them to leave. This is completely unacceptable.

“Private, voluntary and independent providers are an absolutely critical part of the early years sector, delivering the vast majority of early entitlement places, and providing the kind of flexible care and education that so many working families around the country desperately need. Any policymaker who thinks that school-based nurseries can ever replace the provision delivered by PVI settings has fundamentally misunderstood the early years.

“Our hope is that our Freedom of Information Act request will help shine a light on the true impact of the push for more school-based nurseries on PVI settings, and ensure that those working in the private, voluntary and independent sector don’t end up as collateral damage as a result of this policy.”