1

Dudley Council

Childcare Sufficiency Assessment 2011 – 2014 Childcare Strategy Team March 2011

2

Table of contents 1. Executive summary

2. Purpose 3. Background

3.1 Requirement of the Childcare Act 2006 3.2 Format of the assessment 3.3 Community areas 3.4 Guidance 3.5 Children and Young People’s Plan 2010 -2011 3.6 Links with other local authorities

4. Definitions 4.1 What is childcare? 4.2 What is sufficiency? 4.3 The 9 benchmarks of sufficiency

5. Types of childcare 5.1 Early years register 5.2 Childcare register compulsory and voluntary 5.3 Maintained sector 5.4 Extended services

6. Borough data and information 6.1 Numbers of children in Dudley by township and age 6.2 Ethnicity 6.3 Areas of deprivation 6.4 Children in “Poverty” 6.5 Single parent households 6.6 Unemployment (worklessness) 6.7 Earnings

7. Demand for childcare 7.1 Childcare audit/questionnaires 7.2 Type of childcare available and usage 7.3 Location of childcare 7.4 Childcare provider questionnaire analysis 7.5 Unregistered childcare 7.6 Paying for childcare 7.7 Children with disabilities 7.8 Barriers to childcare identified by Jobcentre Plus 7.9 Childcare quality 7.10 Childcare & Early Years workforce

3

8. Mapping and market managing the supply of childcare

8.1 Childcare by township and type – settings and places 8.2 Childcare costs 8.3 Help with childcare costs 8.4 Childcare information and Working Tax Credits 8.5 The free entitlement for 3 & 4yr olds (Extra time for three’s & fours) 8.6 2yr old pilot (Time for Two’s) 8.7 Children’s centres 8.8. Settings supporting children and young people with disabilities

9. Township profiles 9.1 Brierley Hill 9.2 Dudley Central 9.3 Dudley North 9.4 Halesowen 9.5 Stourbridge

Each township section covers a) Economic situation b) Worklessness c) Demand for childcare d) Supply of childcare e) Childcare costs f) Childcare vacancies & percentage of unoccupied places

9.6 Overall analysis of the childcare provision within the five

townships

10. Overall children numbers and available childcare provision 10.1 Ratio of places to children 10.2 Registered births

11. Summary 11.1 Observations 11.2 Conclusions

12. Documents

13. Links to useful websites and associated links 14. Appendices

4

1. Executive summary a) The Childcare Act 2006 This is the second Dudley Borough Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA), the first being published in March 2008. The CSA has been prepared to satisfy the requirements of the Childcare Act 2006, which expects all local authorities (LA) to undertake an assessment of the sufficiency of childcare for parents in their area who wish to work or train. The CSA identifies any gaps in provision available and puts forward plans of how the LA intends to meet the needs of such parents. The Childcare Act 2006 states that “the provision of childcare (whether or not by the LA) is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area who require childcare in order to enable them; 1) to take up, or remain in, work; and 2) to undertake education or training, which could reasonably be expected to assist them to obtain work.” It expects that the CSA will take into account the needs of specified age ranges of children and must consider the types of childcare under the following categories:

• early years or later years childminding

• school term before or after school hours

• school hours during school term

• outside the school term

In addition the CSA is required to analyse the information collected, by community areas as well as across the whole of the local authority area. Dudley borough is divided into the five townships of Brierley Hill, Dudley Central, Dudley North, Halesowen and Stourbridge. Sections within the CSA consider the childcare needs and availability in each of these townships with further assessment of the provision in each of the wards within that township. b) Information about Dudley borough The first part of this CSA gives an overview of Dudley borough and provides a variety of data about the numbers of children, the ethnicity of the children in the area and takes extracts from the Local Economic Assessment for Dudley Borough 2011/12 and the Child Poverty Assessment 2011 to show the economic developments in the borough and the townships as well as identifying child poverty and how Dudley are to ‘narrow the gap’ between children living in poverty and others. Dudley has one of the larger local authority populations being 25th out of 326 English Local Authorities. The current population totals 307362 by the 2010 mid-year population estimates, a small increase since the last full CSA. Of this population a total of 73,200 are children and young people aged between 0 -19, which is 23.8% of the population.

5

Information from the school and early years census in January 2011, Office of National Statistics mid year estimates (2010) and child benefit data 2009 gives an estimate of the ages of children across the borough (see data below); this shows an overall just over 0.8% increase in children aged 0-14 years from the Census 2001 figures, more precise data will not be available until after 2011 Census data has been collated. The estimates taken from the Office of National Statistics mid year (2010), being more reflective of the current children and young people population, show that for the age ranges specified by the Children’s Act 2006 there are:

11,100 children under 3 years of age

7, 200 children aged 3 – 4 years 10,400 children aged 5 – 7 years 10,200 children aged 8 – 10 years 14,800 children aged 11 – 14 years

This gives a total of 53,700 children across the Dudley borough aged 0-14 years that make up 17.5% of the population. Council data on ethnicity shows that there is around 14% of the population aged 0-15yrs that are of minority ethnic origins. Other data on lone parents, unemployment rates, worklessness and income indicates that Dudley is reasonably well placed against other LA’s in the West Midlands. Dudley is neither affluent nor deprived, overall being placed as 100th most deprived local authority area out of 354 local authorities, but as the township and ward data shows there are areas of the borough that require targeted support and services due to higher deprivation levels. The provision of childcare provision in the more deprived areas will continue to require support, as they are unlikely to be sustainable due to income levels and usage. It is expected that children’s centres will continue to provide outreach facilities to deliver the support needed by parents and other carers. The Dudley child poverty assessment identifies that approximately 14,830 children are living in poverty which is 22.1% of the Borough’s children, just above the England average (21%), for the West Midland average this raises to 23%. c) The demand for childcare An online survey was undertaken by the Childcare Strategy Team during the period August to November 2010, in order to consult with parents of children and young people under the age of 19yrs to assess whether their childcare needs are being met. Questions were set in the context of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment guidance and 9 benchmarks. (See section 4.3) Despite extensive promotion of this survey through local press and other DMBC publications, the expected response was not achieved. Therefore it is expected that parents may wish to make comments as we continue to share the findings of the assessment over the coming months.

6

d) Mapping the supply of childcare As at December 2010 there were 389 childcare settings in Dudley, which is a decrease on the 2008 CSA of around 10%, these settings provide 10,510 places across the borough which is an increase in places of around 7% on the previous CSA. Maintained early education places of which there are currently 2,958 (3,060 in 2008) are to be found in the 39 maintained nursery classes and 1 maintained nursery school; in addition approximately 1,990 early education places are also available within private or voluntary day nurseries and pre-schools, including some childminders. Therefore the total number of early education places available across the borough is 4,948 Halesowen is the best-served township with access to 2,162 childcare places spread across 98 settings giving a reasonable choice for parents. Dudley North has the fewest total of settings (48) and places (1,785) with just half of the childminders of the next lowest township. Holiday play schemes have the lowest number of places available (670) of all the categories. There are 20 Children’s centres commissioned by DMBC across the borough that play a significant key role in the delivery of the Early Years Outcomes Duty within the Childcare Act 2006. All centres provide a core offer of services to parents and children under 5 years of age; although there are variations in the ‘depth’ of services according to areas of disadvantage. The core offer includes: access to early learning and childcare in the x 6 phase 1 children’s centres located in the 10% most disadvantaged areas of the borough, support for a childminder network, family support and outreach, child and family health services, links to Jobcentre Plus, education and training providers, and signposting to a range of other services such as Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). The provision of extended services in schools for children who are of school age and their parents is wide spread across the borough. Extended services include provision of and access to a range of services beyond the normal educational curriculum and provide services and activities beyond the established school day. Such activities may include art, drama or sport sessions, family learning and support for parenting, study support, childcare including holiday playschemes or breakfast clubs. Within Dudley, clusters of extended services have developed based on township areas and provide access to the core offer across this locality, rather than through an individual school, children’s centre or other setting. The cluster of schools, children’s centres and other provision is supported by an area co-ordinator who oversees the effective provision of services across these areas. e) Support for childcare The CSA explains the range of support for parents in accessing childcare. There is the free entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds through the Nursery Education Fund (NEF), offering 15hours of free early education per week for a minimum of 38 weeks per annum, over six terms starting the term after the child’s third birthday for every parent that wants it. The latest figure for the take up of NEF places in Dudley at the end of spring term 2011 was 4,257.

7

More recently a 2yr old pilot was established where up to 200 two year olds living in the 10% most disadvantaged areas of the borough were provided with access of up to 15 hours of free early education and childcare with a strong family support element, the primary driver for the 2yr old pilot is economic deprivation. The pilot will expand over the next few years to increase the number of children accessing the project in Dudley to over 900 2yr olds who live within the 20% most disadvantaged areas. There are a number of sources of help with childcare costs, which are explained in the section on the supply of places. These include:

• Child Tax Credit;

• The Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit;

• Care 2 Learn (for a young parent, including dads, 20 years old or younger while learning)

• Employer Supported Childcare – Dudley MBC offers all employees access to childcare vouchers via salary sacrifice schemes

• Workplace nurseries – some employers may offer subsidised workplace provision. The only example in Dudley is Waterbabies for HM Revenue & Customs based in Brierley Hill

The Family Information Service (FIS) in Dudley is the first point of contact and it can provide detailed information on the availability and costs of childcare and the potential financial support that is possible. f) Profiles of the five townships There are sections in the assessment which deal with each of the five townships and the wards that sit within them. These sections provide basic information about available childcare and local cost of provision, economic situation, household data and worklessness. However, the Dudley Local Economic Assessment (see link page 57) provides a full economic profile for the Dudley Borough. The demand for childcare, supply of childcare and childcare costs sections provide a comparison between each of the wards in the townships and give a more local reflection of the childcare needs and gaps in provision across the locality. In addition, the new Child Poverty Assessment March 2011 provides more in depth detail of the levels of child poverty across the Dudley Borough (see link page 57) g) Summary The final section deals with the observations and conclusions that may be drawn from the CSA. It considers where the possible gaps in provision are and how these may be rectified in the future through an action plan. However, the main conclusions are that Dudley is well provided for in free early education for 3-4 year olds but there remain gaps in the number of

8

holiday play schemes for 5 -14 year olds across the borough. Provision for children with SEN and disabilities is much improved. However, provision of childcare during non-traditional working hours is limited with only 1 setting offering weekend childcare and only two others offer evenings, overnight or support other shift patterns. There is little data available on the need for these hours so the level of the gap is unknown.

9

2. Purpose The childcare sufficiency assessment considers the current childcare market (supply) and the most recent consultation with parents and carers (demand) and providers and will enable Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) to present the final assessment. It is part of the first stage in securing sufficient childcare provision and outlines the actions that the Dudley MBC plans to take to identify and address the gaps and to meet the needs of parents in the future.

3. Background It is a requirement of the Childcare Act 2006 that a local authority undertakes an assessment of the sufficiency of childcare for the parents in the area who wish to work or train, to identify any gaps in that provision, and how it plans to meet the needs of parents. The government aims to ensure that all children have the best possible start in life and that parents have a choice about the ways in which they balance work and family commitments. Through the Childcare Act 2006 the government is aiming for high quality, flexible, affordable and accessible childcare under the banner of “sufficiency”. There are two duties, which the LA must have regard to: 1) the duty to assess sufficiency and 2) the linked duty to secure sufficient childcare. The duty stated by the Childcare Act 2006 is “the provision of childcare (whether or not by the LA) is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area who require childcare in order to enable them:

- to take up, or remain in, work - to undertake education or training, which could reasonably be

expected to assist them to obtain work”

Local authorities must take into account: - the childcare places for which the “childcare element of the working

tax credit” is payable - free nursery places for 3 and 4 year olds - the needs of disabled children - the services for children in need and - childcare outside the local authority area

3.1 Requirement of the Childcare Act The children must be counted in this assessment under the following age ranges:

• children who have not attained the age of 3

• ages 3 or 4

• ages 5, 6 or 7

• ages 8, 9 or 10

• ages 11, 12, 13 or 14 (up to the 1st of September next following 14th birthday)

• ages 15 or 16 for disabled children only

10

The childcare in the assessment must be counted under the following categories:

• early years or later years childminding

• school term before or after school hours

• school hours during school term

• outside the school term

In addition it is considered that ‘full day care’ provision does not easily fall into one of these categories so have been accounted for separately. 3.2 Format of the assessment This assessment sets out the three requirements of the Act:

• it analyses the demand from parents

• it maps the supply of childcare, where it is situated and the types available

• it identifies if there are any gaps between the supply and demand The following information was therefore collected and analysed:

• the demand for childcare from parents and carers by type of care, age group, type of provision and cost of care

• the levels of registered childcare provision across Dudley analysed by; type of care, age group, type of provision and cost of care

• population information

• economic information

• child poverty information

• quality of provision from Ofsted inspections data

• evidence of any unmet demand for childcare through the survey with parents and carers within the area

There are a number of ways in which DMBC has identified and considered the gaps in the local childcare market:

• geographical gaps: a lack of childcare places in an area

• income gaps: a shortage of affordable childcare

• specific needs gaps: a shortage of childcare for disabled children, or children with other specific needs, or from faith or community groups

• time gaps: a shortage of childcare when it is required by parents

• age gaps: a shortage of care suited to children of a certain age group

• type gaps: a shortage of the types of childcare that parents would prefer

All sources of data and dates of collection have been acknowledged throughout this assessment and wherever possible the most recently available data and information have been used. Current childcare data has been provided from the Family Information Service (FIS) and from Ofsted local authority profiles.

11

3.3 “Community” areas One of the requirements of the Childcare Act 2006 is that the assessment relates to smaller areas than the total local authority areas, to indicate differences across local communities and to show parents the local childcare settings. For Dudley it was considered that the five township areas represented reasonable travel areas and that ward data would satisfy the “community” areas required under the Act. The five townships are Brierley Hill, Dudley Central, Dudley North, Halesowen and Stourbridge. The figures for the townships and wards are shown in a later section of this assessment.

3.4 Guidance This childcare sufficiency assessment has used the following guidance:

• Childcare Act 2006, Chapter 21 (the Act)

• The Childcare Act 2006 (Childcare Assessments) Regulations 2007 (the Regulations)

• Securing Sufficient Childcare; Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities

• Childcare Sufficiency Assessments: Guidance for Local Authorities

3.5 Children and Young People’s Plan 2010-11 Under the new Coalition Government there is no longer a requirement for local authorities to have a Children’s Trust. However, Dudley is in agreement that partnership working is vital to ensuring that all children and young people are well supported and cared for. A new plan for the 2011 - 2012 period is therefore under development The most recent Children and Young Peoples Plan 2010-2011 had grouped the vision for Dudley into the five outcomes of Every Child Matters “We want all children and young people in Dudley to be happy, healthy and fulfilled.” There are three strategic themes addressed in the plan; Early Intervention, Workforce Development and Integrated Working. The need to develop sufficient childcare in Dudley as part of the Childcare Act 2006 requirements is not explicitly specified in the Children and Young Peoples Plan. However, the essence of that requirement is shown through the aims of addressing disadvantage, safeguarding children, listening to children, involving them in decision-making and providing active leadership. (See link page 57) The priorities within the 2010-2011 plan include:

• Supporting all children to feel safe

• Narrow the gap between the performance and outcomes achieved by under performing and under privileged groups in Dudley and the national average

• Support children and young people to become and remain healthy

• Support children and young people to enjoy growing up in Dudley and to acquire the skills to live successful lives

• Support children and young people to achieve economic well being

• Enhance the skills and confidence of parents and carers in Dudley

12

• Continue to strengthen Dudley Children’s Trust and Strategic Commissioning. The Children’s Trust Board will provide effective leadership across Dudley so children and young people know they can be involved

• Further enhance the skills and fitness for purpose of our children’s workforce

• Increase the effectiveness of transition arrangements from children to adult services

3.6 Links with other local authorities One of the requirements of the Children’s Act 2006 is to consider the childcare provision in the surrounding local authorities and the extent to which there is cross boundary flow of parents using childcare outside of Dudley borough and parents from other local authorities using Dudley childcare. With so many local authorities surrounding Dudley this exercise would need considerable investment to check the original addresses of all children. There is however good liaison within the Black Country local authorities to oversee this issue and in working together in the cross boundary provision. The indications are that the in flow, and out flow of parents are fairly even across the authorities.

13

4. Definitions 4.1 What is childcare? Childcare was defined in legislation for the first time in the 2006 Act. Section 18 of the Act defines childcare as “any form of care for a child” including “education…and any other supervised activity” but excluding:

• education or activities provided by a school for a pupil during school hours, unless that pupil has not yet started key stage 1 (thereby including nursery and reception classes)

• care provided for a child by a parent, step-parent or person with parental responsibility; or any relative; or foster parent (local authority or private) or

• care provided by a children’s home, a care home, a hospital or a residential family centre, a young offenders’ institution, a secure training centre, or a secure care home within any of those establishments

4.2 What is meant by sufficiency? Sufficient childcare in Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006 is defined as “sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in the local authority’s area who require childcare in order for them to take up, or remain in, work, or training.” Local authorities therefore need to satisfy themselves, so far as is reasonably practicable, by using the 9 benchmarks (See below) that;

• there are sufficient places overall in each sub-local authority area, having regard to demographic trends and to patterns of employment and of travelling to work. (Smaller geographical areas are those that the LA considers to be best suited. For example wards or super output areas or any areas that the LA considers appropriate)

• there is sufficient flexibility, with places being available at the right times (for example, in the early morning, late evening, at weekends or during school holidays), to fit in with working patterns

• places are sufficiently accessible, so that parents do not have to travel too far out of their way to access childcare

• childcare places are high quality, in terms of judgements made by Ofsted and local authority officers, using a range of nationally recognised assessment tools.

• sufficiency will be met when parents in the local area are able to access the childcare they need to be able to work or train

14

4.3 The 9 benchmarks of sufficiency

1. Sufficient places overall – enough places to meet the needs of working parents or those who are training to work and enough places to allow eligible children aged 2, 3 and 4 to take up their offer of free childcare, even where parents aren’t working or training.

2. Childcare places should be of high quality, quality of places (reflecting

judgements made by Ofsted, Early Years Quality Improvement Support Programme (EYQISP) and any local schemes that indicate a setting’ quality rating and improvement path).

3. There should be sufficient flexibility, with places being available at the

right times (for example, in the early morning, late evening, at the weekend, or during school holidays), to fit in with working parents.

4. Places should be sufficiently accessible, so that parents do not have

to travel too far out of their way to access childcare.

5. There should be a range of provision, with the balance between the various types of early years and childcare provision appropriate to meet the needs of parents identified through the sufficiency assessment.

6. There should be sufficient knowledge and information about the

supply and quality of places and how to access them.

7. Childcare places should be sufficiently affordable.

8. Childcare settings should be sufficiently inclusive and meet particular needs.

9. Childcare settings should be sufficiently sustainable.

15

5. Types of childcare There are three different categories for childcare provision which Ofsted define as:

• Childminding

• Childcare on non-domestic premises

• Childcare on domestic premises

And two mandatory Ofsted registers that childcare providers are required to join, as stated below.

5.1 The Early Years Register

All childcarers – such as childminders, day nurseries, pre-schools and

private nursery schools – providing for children from birth to the 31 August

following their fifth birthday (known as the early years age group) must

register on the Early Years Register and deliver the Early Years Foundation

Stage.

5.2 The Childcare Register

The Childcare Register has two parts: a compulsory part and a voluntary

part.

Compulsory part:

A childcare provider must register on the compulsory part of the Childcare

Register if they care for children from the 1 September following their fifth

birthday up to the age of eight, unless they are not required to register. This

is usually six- and seven-year-olds, but could include some five-year-olds.

Voluntary part:

Some childcare providers can choose to register with Ofsted if they want to

provide care that does not need to register. A benefit to registering on the

voluntary register is to enable eligble families to access the Childcare Tax

Credit to support paying for the provision. This includes:

• home-based care in the home of the child (nannies)

• activity-based settings such as sports coaching or tuition

• short-term care such as crèches

• care that is only for children aged eight to their 18th birthday.

5.3 Maintained sector: Early education is available through schools within the local authority known as the maintained sector. The following settings provide childcare and early education within school hours and support the free education provision for 3-4 year olds:

- nursery school - nursery class - reception class

16

• Since September 2008 ‘maintained’ early education provision has been inspected by Ofsted under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requirements for children up to the age of 6yrs.

NB: The EYFS is currently under review however, the early indications are that the EYFS is recognised as making a contribution to the quality of services across the sector and that there should be a framework that applies to all providers working with children in the early years across both care and education including learning and welfare, with a number of exemptions for independent schools, extended beyond the exemptions already identified. There is also greater recognition for the role that parents and carers play in their young children’s learning and that greater emphasis should be given to this role by practitioners. 5.4 Extended Services: The development of extended services over the past 4 years has meant that schools have increased the range of ‘out of school hours’ and other service provision they offer, this includes childcare. The childcare an individual school or a cluster of schools in a locality may provide can include breakfast, after school and holiday clubs, although additional services, such as activity clubs may also meet parents demand for ‘childcare’. The full core offer of extended services involves providing access either individually or across a cluster of schools to: • A varied range of activities including study support activities for primary and secondary schools, combined in primary schools with childcare, 8am-6pm, all year round in line with demand; • Parenting and family support; • Swift and easy referral to specialist services such as speech therapy; • Community use of school facilities to a level and in a way that meets the needs of the pupils, their families and the community Other types of provision are also available but do not fall in the category of care as required by the Act. These would include crèches, uniformed groups, toddler groups or general support groups. 87% of Dudley schools had met this standard in 2008/2009. This is close to the median, for the 151 authorities who reported on this measure. Schools include primary, middle and secondary schools, nursery schools and special schools.

17

6. The Borough of Dudley Dudley borough is a unitary local authority situated in the West Midlands. It forms part of the Black Country, an area made up of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall and the city of Wolverhampton. The borough covers approximately 38 square miles or 98 square kilometres. Dudley is a predominantly urban area, however around 30% of the borough is made up of green spaces which includes approximately 1,700 hectares of green belt land. The people of Dudley enjoy easy access to both urban areas and the countryside, with the city of Birmingham situated approximately 9 miles east of the borough. Rural Staffordshire and Worcestershire lie in close proximity to the west and south. The five townships of Dudley each have their own identity and culture. The main town centres are: Brierley Hill in the west and middle of the borough, Dudley Central, Dudley North, Halesowen to the south and east and Stourbridge in the south-west. Within Brierley Hill is the Merry Hill Centre - one of the largest retail developments in the UK. The following population and economic statistics have been extracted to give a picture of the borough as a whole and which could have a bearing on the need for childcare in the area.

⇒ The population of Dudley borough is 307,400 (2010 mid-year population estimates)

⇒ 23.8% of Dudley’s population is between the ages of 0 – 19years, whilst 57.5% of the population is aged 20 – 64years and 18.7% are 65years and over

⇒ Dudley has one of the larger local authority populations, being 25th out of 326 English Local Authorities

Source: 2001 Census / Mid-Year Population Estimates 2010, Office for National Statistics

18

6.1 Numbers of children in Dudley by township and age The following table shows the latest calculation of the numbers of children in Dudley in the age categories stipulated by the guidance:

Aged 0-2

Aged 3-4

Aged 5-7

Aged 8-10

Aged 11-14

Total

Brierley Hill

2,090 1,467 2,363 2,046 3,267 11,233

Dudley Central

2,707 1,854 2,333 2,853 3,662 13,409

Dudley North

1,575 1,183 1,850 2,020 2,553 9,181

Halesowen

1,864 1,369 2,200 2,396 3,141 10,970

Stourbridge

1,939 1,438 2,189 2,302 3,331 11,199

School and Early Years Census Jan 2011

10,175 7,311 10,935 11,617 15,954 55,992

Census 2001

10,166 7,310 11,465 12,059 15,958 56,958

ONS 2010* mid year estimates

11,100 7,200 10,400 10,200 14,800 53,700

The age columns are based on a combination of the Census 2001, school census, early year’s census at Jan 2011 and Office of National Statistics (ONS) 2010 mid year estimates.

From the total figures it can be seen that the 0-2 year old population has increased on the previous equivalent cohort; but other age ranges have decreased since the census in 2001. The areas and wards in the townships have changed since the census so comparisons at this level would be meaningless.

* The ONS mid year estimate (2010) data being the most up to date and more reflective of the current children and young people population in Dudley.

6.2 Ethnicity of Dudley residents: In 2001, 92.5% of people living in Dudley borough classed themselves as being White British. In the 2001 Census count, Dudley’s largest minority ethnic groups were: Pakistani (2.1%), Indian (1.6%) and Black Caribbean (0.78%). The 2007 mid-year ethnic group population estimates show that the percentage of White British people in the borough is now 89.7%. They also show that there have been small increases in the populations of all minority ethnic groups. Groups that have seen the highest increases are Pakistani, Other White and Black African groups. According to estimates the Pakistani

19

and Indian community remain the largest minority ethnic groups in Dudley today at 2.6% and 1.7% respectively. 18% of children and young people 0 – 15yrs in Dudley are from Black and Minority Ethnic communities; the largest BME group being Pakistani at 6.36%. Mixed race groups are the fastest growing with 3.84% of the 0 - 15yrs population. In terms of population distribution, certain neighbourhoods within the borough have larger Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) community groups living there. These include areas in the wards of St. Thomas’s, Brierley Hill, and Lye & Wollescote. The age profile of the BME population is younger than the age profile of the white population in the borough. Source: 2001 Census / Mid-Year Ethnic Group Population Estimates 2007 (experimental statistics), Office for National Statistics

6.3 Areas of deprivation: The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a measure of deprivation across England. Deprivation for small areas is measured by Super Output Areas (SOA). There are 202 SOA in Dudley and on average there are 1,511 people living in each SOA. The areas in the borough that are most affected by deprivation are in the Castle & Priory and St Thomas’s wards. Five Super Output Areas in Castle and Priory ward and three SOA in St Thomas’s ward fall within the 10% most deprived areas in England. Both of these wards are in close proximity to Dudley town centre. The two most deprived areas in the borough are found in and around the areas of Wrens Nest and Priory. Other areas that fall within the 10% most deprived areas in England include parts of Netherton, Brierley Hill town centre, Lye town centre and an area adjacent to Halesowen town centre. 6.1% of the borough population live in areas that fall within the 10% most deprived in England. 20.1% of the borough population live within areas that fall within the 20% most deprived in England. NOTE: The IMD information above is a basic summary of overall deprivation in Dudley. Source: Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007, Department for Communities and Local Government

20

6.4 Children in "Poverty"

Government Office Region % of Children in "Poverty"

North East 24.0%

North West 22.8%

Yorkshire and the Humber 21.4%

East Midlands 18.4%

West Midlands 23.3%

East of England 16.1%

London 30.8%

South East 14.5%

South West 15.8%

England 20.9%

• Nationally it is thought that on average around 21% of children are living in poverty. This varies considerably across the nine government office regions.

• London Boroughs exhibit the highest levels, followed by the main industrial areas. The rural South and East have much lower levels.

• For the West Midlands this figure rises to 23% and in Dudley we have 22%. This equates to around 14,830 children. Within our parliamentary constituencies, Dudley North is the highest at 26.4%. Both Dudley North and Stourbridge rankings have deteriorated over the past three years.

• The wards within Dudley also vary, with the highest proportions seen in St Thomas’s (39.0%), Castle & Priory (32.9%) and Brockmoor & Pensnett (33.2%). The lowest rates are to be found in Halesowen South (5.9%), Kingswinford North & Wall Heath (7.4%) and Kingswinford South (9.7%).

• Within the Black Country; Dudley (22.0%) is one of the better performing authorities against Walsall (28.4%), Wolverhampton (30.8%) and Sandwell (30.8%).

Families in Poverty characteristics: The following illustrate several areas that could be used to identify a family living within poverty thresholds:

• In terms of household type, lone parents are most at risk of poverty

• 3,660 people in the borough were claiming the lone parent element of Income Support in August 2010 which is 1.9% of the working age population

• Lone parents accounted for 12.7% of all Income Support claimants in February 2010

• There is a greater likelihood of disabled people living in poverty. For example, 23% of individuals in families where at least one member is disabled are in poverty, compared with 16% of families with no disabled member (before housing costs).

• Relative poverty rates vary by ethnicity and are highest among those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi background at 52% before housing costs and 60% after housing costs. Source: State of the nation report: poverty, worklessness and welfare dependency in the UK May 2010

21

6.5 Single Parent Households: The proportion of single parent households across Dudley varies considerably according to the 2001 Census. At SOA level the range was from 0.8% of households to 22.5%. There are seven SOA’s where the proportions were above 15%. These were in Amblecote, Gornal, St Thomas’, Sedgley and three SOA’s in Castle & Priory. These areas are typically comprised of local authority housing or registered social landlord housing. This data is more than 9 years old, as we will not have access to the 2011 census data until at least next year however, these areas are still ranked highly by NI 116 and the pattern across the Borough has remained very similar during this time. Other areas that have high numbers of lone parent claimants from NI 116 include two more SOA’s in St Thomas’s, Pensnett and Hawbush in Brierley Hill and an area around Lye Cross. Across the Borough around 8,805 children in poverty live in single parent households with the remaining 6,030 living in couple households. In the Castle & Priory area, there are estimated to be around 650 children living in poverty in single parent households according to the NI 116 definition (the proportion of children living in families in receipt of (means-tested) out of work benefits or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent of median income). Another 575 children in single parent households are estimated to be living in St Thomas’s Ward NI 118 - Take up of formal childcare by low-income working families (%) (2008) (linked to take-up of childcare)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Rot

herh

am

Dud

ley

Don

caster

Thurro

ck

Der

bysh

ire

England

Not

tingh

amsh

ire

Stock

ton-

on-T

ees

Telfo

rd a

nd W

rekin

Wig

an

Bolto

n

Lanc

ashire

Success in ‘take up’ will be a measured increase in the numbers benefiting from the childcare element of WTC. Such an increase and an upward trajectory of the childcare element figures will demonstrate that childcare is flexible and affordable for parents and will also ensure that the children from low income/poor families are not deprived of the early education and/or the Extended Schools/formal childcare provision that is enjoyed by more affluent peers and which has a positive impact on outcomes and attainment

22

Dudley has a relatively low ‘take up’ rate compared to its statistical neighbours with a figure of 13.3% where the national average is 17.76% Source: HMI Revenue & Customs April 2010

6.6 Unemployment (worklessness): Unemployment level is generally measured by the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) as a percentage of the working age population that live in the area. 60% of the Dudley borough population are of ‘Working age’ which is defined as 16-64 years for males and 16-59 years for females. People who claim JSA must be out of work, capable of work, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made. As at April 2010, 5.6% of Dudley Borough’s working age population were claiming JSA. The number of people claiming JSA had been decreasing slowly since February 2007, when it was at 3.7%. Between October 2007 and July 2008, the percentage of people claiming JSA remained steady at around the 3% mark. Since August 2008, however, the number of people claiming JSA rose across both Dudley and England, yet the claimant rate for England (at 4.1%) remains consistently lower than its equivalent Dudley figure. Dudley’s claimant rate peaked in September 2009 when it stood at 6.1%, and this was repeated in January and February 2010, however since then the rate has dropped to 5.6% at present. Certain wards in the borough have a higher concentration of people claiming JSA. These are:

• Brierley Hill (8.8%)

• St. Thomas’s (8.7%)

• Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews (8.0%)

• Cradley and Foxcote (7.3%)

• St. James’s (7.2%). As of April 2010, 47.6% of JSA claimants had been unemployed for more than six months, while 23.8% had been unemployed for more than a year. Source: Jobseeker’s Allowance Claimant Count, Office for National Statistics

Approximately 25.6% (15,000) children aged 0 – 5yrs are currently living in workless households in the Dudley Borough. 6.7 Earnings: In 2009 the median gross annual pay of full time employees living in Dudley borough was £21,942. Wages in Dudley had been increasing steadily since 2003. However, the median for 2009 is approximately £1,000 lower than Dudley’s 2008 figure.

23

Neighbouring Black Country authorities Walsall and Wolverhampton also saw a decrease on their previous year’s figures. To make a national comparison, the median earnings of full time employees living in Dudley has been over £2000 lower than the median earnings across England every year since 2003. The 2009 figures show that this gap has now widened to approximately £4,000 per annum. The median gross annual pay of full time employees working in Dudley during 2009 was £21,397. This is only slightly lower than the above figure for employees who live in the borough. The wages of people working in the borough continues to be the second lowest of the four Black Country boroughs for the third year in a row. The 2009 England figure for wages of full time employees was £26,148. Since 2003, the gap between Dudley and England figures has widened and for employees working in Dudley this has increased to an approximate difference in pay of approximately £4,700 per year in 2009. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2009, Office for National Statistics

The information below is extracted from a number of sources to indicate the range of factors that may affect the childcare needs for parents wishing to take up work or training:

⇒ 11.300 children live in households in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance or Income Support

⇒ the working age population is 196,000 or 63.8% of the population

⇒ there were 117,000 jobs available in Dudley borough in 2010 Other statistics that reflect people’s ability to pay for childcare are:

• average full time gross weekly earnings for people working in Dudley are £409.80 in 2009

• for Dudley borough residents (distinct from people employed in Dudley) the average full time gross weekly earnings are slightly higher at £434.40 per week

7. The demand for childcare 7.1 Childcare audit/questionnaires The Childcare Strategy Team has across the last 12 months conducted various ‘Childcare Audits’. It considered the use made of the different forms of childcare that are available in Dudley, and the needs of parents in the area it also consulted with childcare providers to ascertain demand for their services.

24

The methods used looked at the data and included:

• desk research - data about numbers of childcare places and the numbers of providers within the borough from data supplied by Dudley Family Information Service and Ofsted.

• data from other sources on deprivation, child poverty, the local economy and the demographic composition of the area

• a postal survey was sent to all childcare providers across the whole range of settings in the borough. Replies from 205 providers were received (45% return.)This included a ‘snap shot’ day where each provider was asked to give us details about their vacancy situation.

• An online survey was posted on the DMBC website and early years pages and ran from August 2010 to November 2010. Disappointingly the total number of parents who completed the survey was 80, these responses are broken down into the townships as follows:

Brierley Hill

Dudley Central

Dudley North

Halesowen Stourbridge Total

Numbers of parents responding to on-line survey

18 19 11 9 23 80

7.2 Type of childcare available and usage From the survey of parents in the borough and of those who responded:

• 6 (7.5%) did not use any form of childcare

• 25 (31.2%) used informal family or friends and neighbours

• this left 55 (68.7%) of parents who used formal childcare

• up to a half of parents surveyed used more than one type of childcare (formal or informal), which is why the figures in the following table do not total 100%

• 15 (18.7%) of parents surveyed used childcare, which could attract the Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit (WTC), as informal or breakfast and after school clubs of 2 hours or less do not attract the childcare element

• No respondents used childcare facilities outside of Dudley borough

The report asked for satisfaction responses under the headings:

• hours/availability

• cost/fees

• location/accessibility

• quality of care

• premises/equipment

• quality of staff

25

The satisfaction results were based on the use of a 4-point scale where the lowest was 1 (very dissatisfied) to 4 (very satisfied). Of those parents that expressed opinions;

• 8.7% requested their childcare be open later than 6pm,

• 2.5% of respondents wanted their childcare open before 7am and

• 13.7% said the costs of childcare was too expensive

• 2.5% wanted their childcare to be nearer their home.

• 48.7% said their childcare needs were being fully met, with

• 28.7% of parents suggesting that there childcare needs were being only partially met.

• 21.2% of parents identified the need for more holiday play scheme provision. However,

• 85% of parents agreed that their childcare was of good quality, with a further

• 10% agreeing their childcare was of high quality, 7.3 Location of childcare All respondents who intended to use formal childcare within the next 12 months required childcare within the township in which they reside 7.4 Childcare provider questionnaire analysis Surveys were sent to all providers within the borough in April 2010, with a snapshot day of 19 May 2010 to collect actual occupancy figures for an average day. The response rate by sector varied, from a 73% response rate from Full Daycare (nursery) providers, to less than 4% response from holiday play schemes. The low response rate for holiday play schemes may be due to the timing of the survey, as holiday play schemes tend to operate predominantly within the summer holidays, and therefore would not be operating on the snapshot day. There was a similar low response from crèches within the borough (8%), again, many crèches only operate on an ad hoc basis, and therefore a low response was to be anticipated. The total number of responses equate to 45% of providers within the borough at the time of the survey (205 out of 453) Providers were additionally asked how long they were planning to continue to operate a childcare service;

• 141 (68.7%), indicated they intended to continue to provide childcare for more than the next five years.

• Only six providers (2.92%) were intending to cease to offer childcare within the next 12 months; but

• 49 (23.9%) providers identified they are likely to cease to operate between two and four years time.

26

The majority of these responses came from childminders, who historically may only stay within the sector two to three years, many who have chosen childminding as an option in order to remain at home with their own children through their preschool years. A positive response from the survey was that;

• 21 providers (10.2%) were intending to expand the number of places available within the near future, and a further

• 52 (25.3%) had no plans in place, but were considering expanding their provision.

Of the providers currently actively looking at expanding their places the majority indicated they would be looking at increasing provision for the two to three years age group. 7.5 Unregistered childcare Unregistered provision in Dudley, like in many local authorities operates across the Borough, and some parents choose to use informal childcare as their preferred choice. Unregistered provision includes family care; where a child is cared for by a close relative, who is exempt from registration, and also includes providers who only care for children aged eight years or over within settings and who are not required to register with Ofsted. However, provision for children over the age of eight may register on the Ofsted voluntary register, and as an authority we actively encourage settings to do this. If the setting is exempt from registration with Ofsted, but is using local authority premises we expect them to register with Ofsted on the voluntary register as a commitment towards provision of good quality services. The local authority’s family information service (FIS) receives data from Ofsted regarding providers who choose to be on the voluntary register, however there is no mechanism for collecting information on unregistered childcare, therefore children who are cared for within the family network is not included in our data. The childcare strategy team will occasionally be alerted to unregistered provision through telephone contact with potential childcare providers, who will check whether or not, they need to be registered with Ofsted for their provision. When looking at perceived gaps in supply and demand within this assessment, the potential for unregistered provision needs to be considered and further information regarding parental choice is included within the parental survey which was undertaken between August and November 2010. 7.6 Paying for childcare (see also 8.3) 7.6.1 Fees Only 33 settings indicated they had plans to increase their fees by more than 10% over the next 18 months. A range of providers responded that they normally increase their fees in September, of those who gave further information and detail 20%, are intending to raise their fees by 50p per hour.

27

7.6.2 Working tax credit Of the settings that responded to the questionnaire, providers reported that only 240 families claimed the childcare element of the working tax credits. Despite promotion of this benefit throughout the borough through range of means, such as the family information service, take up is still lower than the regional average of 17.76%. Dudley achieves only a 13.3% To date, we have been unable to ascertain why there is such a low take-up within the Dudley Borough, however, it is being considered that geographical boundaries, used to collect data have not exactly fitted the borough boundaries, therefore, some claimants may be counted within other local authority figures or not at all. 7.6.3 Childcare vouchers. There was a more positive result to the use of childcare vouchers within the borough; with currently 824 families of those surveyed using these to pay towards their childcare fees. This scheme has been well promoted to settings, such as childminders, who receive information regarding childcare vouchers at their initial training prior to registration. 7.6.4 Subsidised places 35 settings reported through the provider survey, that they have subsidised places available, e.g. part- funded by an employer or health services. Many settings may be including within that figure, the offer of reduced cost places to their own staff following maternity leave for example. Providers were asked how childcare could better meet the needs of low income groups, which generated many responses. Of the range of ideas our providers highlighted, nine responses, particularly suggested that the NEF places should be expanded to cover younger children, for example, expand the time for twos scheme. Many felt that there should be more subsidies available from the government to support families on low incomes, with one provider, suggesting that all families should be able to apply for working tax credits. Another suggestion around the working tax credit was that there should be a better element for families with two working parents. Several providers felt that the information provided to families about the childcare tax credit may not be clear enough and that help should be available in a more accessible format, one provider, suggesting that raising childcare staff awareness around benefit entitlements may support these families better. Many of the issues raised by providers regarding improvements were support for low income families which are also applicable to working families. However, the flexibility with hours was raised by several providers, such as offering earlier opening hours and a later collection in the evening. Again providers highlighted that there should be more access to information to support parents with benefit entitlements.

28

A range of creative ideas were suggested by providers as improvements for families seeking work. Many suggested that help should be available to parents wishing to train or attend interviews. One suggestion was that it may be possible to advertise childminders available for occasional childminding to cover interviews; many parents felt that childcare was a barrier to them applying the jobs, and that this should be funded. Data available from Jobcentre Plus however, indicated that this was not a major issue, with only a handful of parents highlighting childcare as a barrier to accessing work. (See 7.8) 7.7 Children with disabilities. (See also 8.8) The recent survey indicated that 97 children with disabilities were being cared for by settings within the borough on the snapshot day of these 51 were children under the age of 3yrs. This overall low number may indicate several things, such as settings interpretation of disabilities. Settings may have interpreted the question to be more around physical disabilities, which required additional support within their settings. Secondly, the low figure may indicate that some younger children may not have received a diagnosis for a disability when registered at their setting, and this may take place as part of the later statementing process when children commenced school. Within the providers’ survey, most providers, who responded to the question on what improvements could better meet the needs of families with children with disabilities, felt that grants should be available to improve access to provision. Many providers also felt that further training should be available to settings that support children with disabilities. Since this survey was undertaken, DCATCH money, a dedicated fund to improve disabled children's access to childcare, has funded a range of further training opportunities to providers. A one year fund of £89K was allocated to the Dudley Borough for the 2010/11 period. Providers also felt that more outside support would be welcomed. Currently, only NEF funded group care providers have access to an area SENCO. Childminders and non-NEF funded settings receive no support for SEN or disabled children in their care, other than that which may be provided directly to the child within the setting by external professionals. One setting felt that there was not enough promotion of the Me2 award and that families may not necessarily know about the award, as they had only received two enquiries from families with disabled children, despite holding the award over a year. 7.7.1 Me2 award 22 settings, including day nurseries, out of school clubs and childminders across the borough have gained the Me2 quality award. The award acknowledges the setting’s commitment to inclusion, environmental access and additional training to support children and young people with disabilities. It has been promoted to all settings; not just childcare providers, but services

29

offered for children and young people up to the age of 19yrs; with the aim of increasing access to those who have a disability. 10 of our respondents to the provider questionnaire have the Me2 award, with a further four providers working towards or planning to start the award in 2011. (See link page 57) 7.8 Barriers to childcare identified by Jobcentre Plus As part of the support that Jobcentre Plus gives to people seeking work, information was collected by them about the perceived barriers that prevent them taking up employment. The data was collected from January 2009 to December 2010. The data covers Dudley, Halesowen and Stourbridge Jobcentre areas which equate to the borough of Dudley. The data shows that 2,334 parents were asked about what they perceived to be their personal barriers to employment and the most frequently quoted was availability/provision of places by 808 parents (34.6%) followed by cost by 621 parents (26.6%) and then suitable hours by 336 (14.3%): Only 2.8% of parents questioned identified their barrier was due to having a child with a disability and 0.08% suggested that their child’s cultural needs were considered a barrier to them gaining employment. 7.9 Childcare quality From the Ofsted LA profile report dated 31st December 2010 covering the period from 1st September 2008 to 31st December 2010, Dudley is considered to be exceeding the England average in outcomes from inspections carried out during the period, 83% of providers are performing to a good or an outstanding level, with only 18% of providers operating at a satisfactory level and no provider reported as inadequate. This also exceeds the performance of other Black Country LA’s and our statistical neighbours. Many parents and carers will use Ofsted data as one of the measures for quality of childcare provision. Dudley borough as a whole has very high quality provision, with all provision currently graded satisfactory or above. Overall effectiveness Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate National 10% 59% 30% 2% Dudley 16% 67% 18% 0% Source: Ofsted inspection outcomes: 1/9/2008 – 30/12/2010

Dudley borough has adopted the use of the National Strategies’ “Early Years Quality Improvement Support Programme” (EYQISP) (2008) to support in the grading of provision, in order to enable more targeted support to those providers who need it. Currently all NEF funded group care provision is discussed via termly ‘Level of Support’ meetings where targeted support is agreed within the team, this process is now expanding to meet the needs of

30

childminders, and we aim to develop this level of support discussion to include all types of registered childcare provision within the borough. 7.10 Childcare & Early Years workforce As at March 2011 a total of 1,599 staff worked in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector of the early years and childcare workforce; there are self-employed childminders plus staff who are employed in full day care, sessional care and out-of-school clubs. 7.10.1 Staff qualification levels There is currently no requirement for childminders to have a formal qualification but 50% of the staff working in settings should be qualified to Level 2 and above. Qualification level Total % No qualification 455 28.45% Unit level 9 0.56% Level 1 1 0.06% Level 2 215 13.44%

Level 3 789 49.34% Level 4 76 4.75% Level 5 54 3.37% Total staff 1599 99.97% Workforce survey March 2011

7.10.2 Early Years Professional status (EYPs) There are 25 practitioners working within the Dudley borough who hold EYP status, which is 1.56% of the workforce population, there are 15 practitioners currently working towards EYP status. 7.10.3 Ethnicity of workforce The Dudley childcare workforce is predominantly of white origin with black and minority ethnic groups representing 2.99% of all staff.

Ethnicity Total staff %

White 1160 72.68% Mixed 3 00.18% Asian or Asian British 34 02.13% Black or Black British 9 00.56% Chinese or Other Ethnic Group 2 00.12% No information available 391 24.49% Total staff 1599 100% Workforce survey March 2011

31

7.10.4 Age and gender of workforce Overall the Dudley workforce is relatively young. Findings have shown that 15.69% of all staff were aged between sixteen and twenty-four years. A third (33.39%) of all staff were below the age of forty-five. Only 3.8% of the workforce is male and 96.05% are female as would be expected from a female orientated profession. Age Males % Females % Total %

16 – 24yrs 7 0.43% 244 15.76% 251 16.19% 25 – 44yrs 11 0.69% 523 32.63% 534 33.325 45+yrs 9 0.56% 379 23.64% 388 24.20% Not entered

34 2.12% 385 24.02% 419 26.14%

Total 61 3.8% 1531 96.05% 1592 99.85% Workforce survey March 11

32

8. Mapping and market managing the supply of childcare Information about childcare provision in Dudley is available through the Family Information Service (FIS) and although the tables and charts below show overall figures, the FIS is able to furnish more detailed information about individual settings and vacancies. It can provide sufficient information to help parents to decide on the type of childcare available in their area and also the types of financial support that is available. The local authority’s role in mapping out and market managing the stock of childcare is about ensuring effective implementation and securing of sufficient childcare places for all parents that want it. It is crucial that the local authority take a proactive role in market management, by stimulating the take-up of childcare places, especially the free entitlement, and from under-represented groups rather than just monitoring it, and stimulating the growth of places and new provision where they are needed across the borough. The role of market management in relation to childcare sufficiency:

8.1 Childcare by township by type - settings and places The table below is a summary of the childcare in Dudley by township. It shows the number of settings and the total number of places that are available through those settings. It is not possible to give an accurate picture of the vacancies within settings at any one time but this can be obtained as required from FIS or direct from the providers themselves.

Needs analysis Gaps analysis Sufficiency action plan

Childcare Sufficiency Assessment

• Mapping supply

• Mapping demand

Securing sufficiency

Consultation

Market management

• Demand side levers

• Supply side levers

• Regulation

• Engagement

Standard template

• Priorities and plan for addressing gaps

• Outcomes and indicators of progress/improvement

Mapping supply too demand

• Identifying the gaps

The childcare commissioning pathway

33

Township Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery school

Out of school care

Pre -School Grand total

Brierley Hill Settings 29 11 5 8 9 12 74

Places 151 523 140 450 258 518 2,040 Dudley Central Settings 38 13 5 14 11 2 83

Places 190 570 136 1,168 354 52 2,470

Dudley North Settings 16 5 3 6 11 7 48

Places 85 232 100 590 380 398 1,785

Halesowen Settings 57 11 4 6 14 6 98

Places 310 465 151 510 481 245 2162

Stourbridge Settings 40 8 4 4 13 17 86

Places 205 332 143 240 356 777 2053 Total number of settings 180 48 21 38 58 44 389

Total places 941 2,122 670 2,958 1,829 1,990 10,510 Ofsted and Dudley FIS data March 2011

The day nursery, maintained nursery school, and the pre-school columns make up the “School Hours during term time” category required by the Childcare Act although some day nurseries provide full day care and are open for school holidays as well.

8.2 Childcare costs The average charges for childcare provision by type across the Dudley borough are as follows: Childcare Type Hourly

rate Daily rate Sessional

rate Weekly rate

Childminder £3.24 £23.34 £8.47 £109.61 Day nursery £2.92 £29.04 £17.47 £128.36 Out of school club

£2.93 £11.13 £4.52 £35.00

Holiday play scheme

£3.00 £18.36 £9.15 £87.83

Pre school £3.00 N/A £5.78 £11.66 Provider survey March 2011 8.3 Help with childcare costs There are many barriers, as reported by parents to access childcare services but the most reported will always be cost, particularly within the private full day care provision. However there are a few ways that parents can be supported.

• Tax credits – families may qualify for Child Tax Credit. The amount a family receives depends on how many children they have, their total household income and whether any of the children are disabled

• The Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit is aimed at helping working parents cover the costs of registered or approved childcare. Care to Learn – For a young parent (including dads) 20 years old or younger, Care to Learn can help pay for childcare and travel costs while learning.

34

• Childcare Grant for full-time students - The Childcare Grant is money to help pay for childcare costs for full-time students. The amount payable will depend on actual childcare costs; income; the income of a spouse or partner if applicable. The Childcare Grant is paid on top of the standard student finance package.

• Employer Supported Childcare – the voucher scheme. Some employers offer vouchers to pay for childcare. The vouchers are usually offered in place of part of the employee’s salary under a system known as ‘salary sacrifice’ and attract tax and National Insurance benefits. Dudley MBC offers all employees vouchers for childcare

• Workplace nurseries – Some employers may offer subsidised workplace nurseries. The only example in Dudley is provided for HM Revenue & Customs staff.

8.4 Childcare information/Working Tax Credits To support access and increase the take up of formal childcare by lower income families and through increasing the take up of Working Tax Credit parents can receive advice on the availability and support for childcare costs from the Dudley Family Information Service (FIS) who will provide detailed information on the availability and costs of childcare and the potential financial support that is possible. (See link page 57) 8.5 Free entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds (Extra Time for three’s and four’s) All 3 and 4 year olds are currently entitled to:

• six terms of Nursery Education Funding (NEF) starting the term after their third birthday

• 15 hours free nursery education per week for 38 weeks per annum, which can be taken flexibly in five sessions over three to five days

• From September 2010 the entitlement was extended to 15 hours per week, for all eligible children

• Some providers may offer access to stretch entitlement, if the provider is able

• free places in Dudley are currently offered by a variety of providers including those in the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors

The use of the free early education places in Dudley had gradually increased over the years and then has reduced more recently; this is reflective of the borough birth data. Regular surveys of parents experience of and demand for more flexible places has been carried out over several terms in the last two years in order to judge how parents are changing their access to the flexible entitlement and whether there is a demand for a ‘stretch’ offer within the borough. (See link page 57)

35

The summary results of the most recent survey in February 2010 where 5,018 questionnaires were sent out and 664 (13.45%) returned can be seen below.

• 278 (41%) parents wanted to access the flexible entitlement over five mornings or 5 sessions x 3 hours = 15hours

• 104 (15.66%) parents wanted to access the flexible entitlement over five afternoons or 5 sessions x 3 hours = 15 hours

• 172 (25.9%) parents wanted to access the flexible entitlement over two and a half days or 2 sessions x 6 hours + 1 session x 3 hours = 15 hours

• 75 (11.29%) parents wanted to access the flexible entitlement over three sessions or 3 sessions x 5 hours = 15 hours

• 35 (5.27%) parents wanted to access the flexible entitlement in a mix of a.m. and p.m. sessions or 5 sessions x 3 hours = 15 hours

We asked parents if they could access the flexible entitlement earlier or later in the day what would they prefer:

• 70.60% of parents who responded would prefer to access their flexible entitlement from 8.00a.m

• 29.39% of parents who responded would prefer to access their flexible entitlement up to 6.00p.m.

We asked parents if they could access their free entitlement extended or ‘stretched’ over more than 38 weeks what would they prefer:

• 79.41% of parents who responded would prefer to take 15 hours over 38 weeks of the year

• 3.97% of parents who responded would prefer to take 13.5 hours over 42 weeks of the year

• 7.2% of parents who responded would prefer to take 12 hours over 47 weeks of the year

• 9.34% of parents who responded would prefer to take 11 hours over 51 weeks of the year

We also asked parents if they knew about working tax credits and from those who responded:

• 81% of parents said they know about working tax credit

• 18.52% of parents said they didn’t know about working tax credit. (these parents were contacted by FIS with advice about how to access working tax credit)

(See Appendix 1 – parental survey)

36

8.6 Two year old pilot (Time for Two’s) Since April 2009 Dudley has participated in the ‘2yr old pilot’, in Dudley this is known as ‘Time for Two’s’. The pilot was established to identify and engage the 10% most disadvantaged children and their families and through children’s centres that we class as our primary delivery agents for the project, provide up to 15hrs of access to childcare, family support and early intervention. The driver for this project is economic disadvantage. Dudley’s original target was set at a reach of 120 disadvantaged 2yr olds living in the 10% most disadvantaged areas of the borough by March 2011, we exceeded this target and reached 207 children in Dudley, by limiting the length of the sessions to 10hrs per child, as when consulted this is what most parents wanted. The project will continue and expand as it has been identified by the coalition government as a priority area for growth under their Early Intervention Grant. In addition, we have been asked to reach out to the 20% most disadvantaged children from April 2013. We have estimated this to be approximately 900+ children across the borough and have set ourselves a trajectory of 350 children reached in 2011/12 and a further 600 reached during 2012/13, we will then expand to reach our locally set target of 900+ after this date. These children will have access to up to 15hrs of free early education and intervention support from their local children’s centres, as we expand the reach we will also expand the number of partners to deliver the free entitlement, to the private and voluntary sector childcare providers through partnership agreements with their local children’s centre to ensure that these children and their families still receive access to family support and outreach services. 8.7 Children’s centres Children’s centres form a significant part of the overall foundation for both universal and targeted services across a number of agencies and sectors in the borough by providing a focus for multi-agency working. There are 20 children’s centres which serve every area of the borough; the role they play is very significant in the delivery of the Under 5’s Outcomes Duty in the Childcare Act 2006. All centres provide a core offer of services to parents and children aged under 5 years, but there are variations in the ‘depth’ of services according to their locality and disadvantage. (See link page 57) The core offer includes:

• access to early learning and childcare (in phase 1 children’s centres only) and support for a childminder network

• family support and parental outreach – information on parenting, ‘drop ins’ and opportunities to access parenting support and family learning

• child and family health services – ante-natal and post-natal services and child health services linked to health trusts

• links with Jobcentre Plus, family learning and training providers

• support for parents and children to access a range of other services

37

Children’s centres form part of the total provision of childcare in Dudley. Phase 1 centres are providing full day care for 10 hours a day over five days. The phase 2 centres have a variety of different facilities and although they are not required to provide the childcare they will be a signpost to and be networked with all the local settings including childminders.

The Centres serve an area of around 800 children under 5 and their families, there is targeted and universal provision established across the borough and all families are able to access services at a centre most appropriate for them. There are six phase 1 children’s centres in Dudley. These are located in the 10% most disadvantaged areas of the borough. Three are commissioned from Action for Children (AfC), one is a maintained nursery school and two are on primary school sites:

• Brierley Hill Children’s Centre (AfC)

• Kates Hill & Sledmere Children’s Centre (AfC)

• Lye (Butterfly) Children’s Centre (AfC)

• Netherton Park Children’s Centre

• Wrens Nest Children’s Centre (also covers Milking Bank)

• Priory Children’s Centre (also covers central Dudley)

There are a further 11 Phase 2 children’s centres, who are located in the 20 - 30% most disadvantaged areas of the borough; nine of these are located on school sites and two are non-school sites and are commissioned from AfC. These are located as follows:

• Hob Green Primary (Hob Green and Pedmore areas)

• Quarry Bank Primary School (Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood area)

• Queen Victoria Primary School (Sedgley area)

• Highgate Primary School (Woodside and St James area)

• Bromley Pensnett Primary School (Pensnett area)

• Olive Hill Primary School (Halesowen North area)

• Tenterfields Primary School (Halesowen Central, Hasbury and Hayley Green areas)

• Cradley Children’s Centre based at Colley Lane School (Cradley, Caslon and Belle Vale areas)

• Roberts Primary School (Gornal area)

• Coseley Health & Family Centre (AfC)

• Stourbridge Children and Family Centre (AfC) (Central Stourbridge, Amblecote, Ashwood Park and Wollaston areas)

Two Phase 3 children’s centres were established in 2010; between them they cover the remaining areas of the borough including Wall Heath & Kingswinford, Wordsley, Withymoor and Stourbridge South.

38

8.8 Settings supporting children and young people with disabilities One of the successes in Dudley has been the development of the Me2 award over the past seven years, which recognises those childcare settings that show good practice in the inclusion of children with disabilities. The award is a kite-mark that will support, recognise, promote and ultimately celebrate inclusive service provision for disabled children and young people throughout the Dudley borough. The Me2 award scheme recognises three award areas that reflect the key identified areas of concern: inclusion, environmental access and training monitoring. To achieve the Me2 award, settings are required to make adaptations to their service, attend a series of training modules and work towards making their setting as accessible as possible, in order to enable all children to attend (with support from the Me2 staff team). The Me2 young people’s panel, is made up of disabled and non-disabled young people, who have been trained to support the project, by carrying out audits on services to see how welcoming and accessible they are for all children and young people. The panel will award settings which they feel are truly inclusive and offer advice and support to settings which need to make improvements to their service. The project gives children with a disability more choices and opportunities for playing, learning and developing. In turn, this gives them a greater sense of inclusion in the community. The Me2 award acts as a clear guide for children and young people with a disability, informing them and assisting them in making decisions for themselves rather than have decisions made on their behalf. Parents know that services they access will be local and have good quality and safe facilities, and that staff in the setting are trained to have the awareness required to welcome their children. This helps parents feel more comfortable about leaving their children behind, allowing them to enjoy their short break. The settings, and people who work in all areas of the settings, also benefit from a real sense of achievement that, for the first time, they are able to respond positively and appropriately to this important group of customers. The Rollercoasters holiday playscheme has achieved an “outstanding” Ofsted report for its work with children and young people with sensory impairments, chronic illnesses and life-threatening medical conditions. The Ofsted inspectors praised the enthusiastic and totally dedicated adults, the tireless work of the committee and the wonderful team of organisers, expert practice and highly skilled practitioners. In addition Dudley has a specialist pre-school ‘Phoenix’ which also received an ‘Outstanding’ grade from Ofsted for its care and support of the very youngest children with complex medical needs and illnesses.

39

9. The five townships 9.1 Brierley Hill a) Economic situation Brierley Hill is the boroughs strategic centre – the nationally known Merry Hill Shopping Centre, the fourth largest centre in the UK, and the Waterfront Business and Leisure complex form part of Brierley Hill town centre. From the Dudley Economic Strategy 2011, there are a number of plans will improve the employment prospects in the township:

• the Waterfront II project

• upgrade of the High Street

• completion of a new £26m health and social care centre through LIFT finance

• development of Venture Way a £27m new road around Brierley Hill town centre

b) Worklessness The wards within the Brierley Hill townships employment rates vary considerably as indicated by the following chart on worklessness. The Brierley Hill and Brockmoor & Pensnett wards show that over 30% of children on those wards live in workless households whilst the other three wards show less than 10%.

Children under 5 in Workless Households in the Brierley Hill

Township

946821

559484

576

283 283

43 43 47

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Brierley Hill Brockmoor &

Pensnett

Kingswinford

North & Wall

Heath

Kingswinford

South

Wordsley

Children Under 5 Average in Workless Households

c) Demand for childcare The total response to the survey from Brierley Hill was 18:

• the percentage of parents who are reliant upon family and friends to deliver at least part of their childcare is 50% (9)

• 61% of these parents do take up their free entitlement of early education in private day nursery provision

40

The following summary reflects the views of parents with children in Brierley Hill.

• the costs of childcare are the primary barrier

• there are waiting lists for those considered to be good childcare providers

• no cover for school holidays and child illness prevents work or training

• want reasonably priced holiday childcare

• hours of holiday play schemes are insufficient for work (e.g. 10am – 3pm) would prefer 7am – 6.30pm

• there are problems if they have children of different ages

• worries around childcare arrangements breaking down

• agreed that childcare provision used was of high quality d) Supply of childcare The following table shows the childcare settings and places in the Brierley Hill township by ward:

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Settings 5 4 1 2 1 2 15 Brierley Hill

Places 26 213 36 120 40 96 531

Settings 1 1 0 2 1 1 64 Brockmoor & Pensnett Places 5 84 0 90 32 18 229

Settings 4 2 2 1 4 3 16 Kingswinford North & Wall Heath Places 21 102 32 60 82 118 415

Settings 13 3 2 1 2 4 25 Kingswinford South

Places 63 100 72 60 56 186 537

Settings 6 1 0 2 1 2 12 Wordsley

Places 36 24 0 120 48 100 328

Total number of settings 29 11 5 8 9 12 74

Total places 151 523 140 450 258 518 2,040

There are two children’s centres in the Brierley Hill area:

• Brierley Hill Children’s Centre (phase 1) is based in the Brierley Hill ward

• Bromley Pensnett Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in Brockmoor and Pensnett ward

A further two phase 3 centres are based in Kingswinford North & Wall Heath and Wordsley wards. e) Childcare costs The average cost of childminding in Brierley Hill is £3.03 but this covers a range of costs from £2.00 to £4.00 per hour. At March 2011 the most expensive childcare in this locality was a childminder who charges £137.50 per week which is £2.50 per week more expensive than a day nursery in the area.

41

The following table shows the ‘average’ childcare costs in Brierley Hill in five different types of childcare setting although the figures represent a sample of settings rather than every one. Where costs are shown as not available (N/A) it does not necessarily mean that there are no places but that charges have not been supplied: Childcare Type Hourly

rate Daily rate Sessional

rate Weekly rate

Childminder £3.03 £26.25 £11.13 £105.31 Day nursery £3.00 £27.44 £13.00 £129.40 Out of school club

£1.75 £13.50 £3.87 N/A

Holiday play scheme

£3.00 £18.00 £10.25 N/A

Pre school £2.00 N/A £6.96 £7.50

f) Childcare vacancies This data was collected as part of the provider snapshot day on the 19 May 2010 and shows number of places available overall, number of vacancies and as a percentage the total number of places unoccupied by childcare type within the township.

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Places 26 213 36 120 40 96 531 Brierley Hill

vacancies8 42 n/a 54 16 14 134

Places 5 84 0 90 32 18 229 Brockmoor & Pensnett vacancies3 31 0 8 5 9 56

Places 21 102 32 60 82 118 415 Kingswinford N'th & Wall Heath vacancies5 23 n/a 8 18 18 72

Places 63 100 72 60 56 186 537 Kingswinford South

vacancies15 3 n/a 0 14 19 51

Places 36 24 0 120 48 100 328 Wordsley

vacancies13 7 0 13 37 6 76

Total number of places 151 523 140 450 258 518 2040

Total vacancies 44 106 n/a 83 90 66 389

% unoccupied places 29% 20% n/a 18% 35% 13% 19%

42

9.2 Dudley Central a) Economic situation From the Dudley Economic Strategy 2011 there are a number of plans that could improve the employment prospects in the township:

• a master plan for the town centre

• Castle Hill development – mixed use development of business, employment, leisure and housing – includes the construction of 65 new homes

• improvements to the Dudley Zoological Gardens and the Castle

• strong growth in service sector at Castle Gate

• housing development at North Priory Estate

• housing improvements as part of the development at Quarry Bank

• work to enhance the Wren’s Nest Nature Reserve

• a Townscape Heritage Initiative to maintain the historic buildings and character of the town centre

• New primary schools in both Wrens Nest and Quarry Bank Four of the wards in Dudley Central, namely Castle & Priory, Netherton, Woodside & St Andrew's, St James' & St Thomas's, are four of the five most deprived wards in the borough. b) Worklessness This is backed up by the data shown in the following chart on children under 5 living in workless households. The four most deprived wards have between 25% and 38% of children under 5 living in workless households.

Children Under 5 in Workless Households in the Dudley

Central Township

1041916

689802

1260

292161 201

451402

0

500

1000

1500

Castle &

Priory

Netherton,

Woodside &

St Andrew 's

Quarry Bank

& Dudley

Wood

St James' St Thomas's

Children Under 5 Average in Workless Households

43

c) Demand for childcare Survey response in Dudley Central was 19 The following summary reflects the views of the parents with children in Dudley Central;

• 68% used friends and family for some of their childcare

• high cost of childcare geared towards working parents who can afford it

• would like: o more access to childcare during summer holidays o childcare closer to home o after school clubs operating beyond 6pm

d) Supply of childcare The following table shows the childcare settings and places in the Dudley Central township, by ward:

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Settings 4 1 2 3 3 1 14 Castle & Priory

Places 21 26 40 260 80 26 453

Settings 4 4 1 2 3 0 14 Netherton,Woodside, St Andrews Places 23 178 40 168 108 0 517

Settings 9 1 0 3 0 0 13 Quarry Bank & Dudley Wood Places 41 8 0 230 0 0 279

Settings 10 4 1 2 2 1 20 St James's

Places 49 208 40 150 96 26 569

Settings 11 3 1 4 3 0 22 St Thomas's

Places 56 150 16 360 70 0 652

Total number of settings 38 13 5 14 11 2 83

Total places 190 570 136 1168 354 52 2470

Quarry Bank has no out-of-school care, pre-school facilities or holiday play schemes. The township does however have the highest number of maintained nursery places of all the townships. There are six children’s centres in the following wards in Dudley Central:

• Kates Hill & Sledmere Children’s Centre (phase 1) is based in St Thomas’s ward

• Priory Children’s Centre (phase 1) and Wren’s Nest Children’s Centre (phase 1) are based in the Castle & Priory ward

• Netherton Park Children’s Centre (phase 1) and Woodside Children’s Centre (phase 2) are based in the Netherton, Woodside & St Andrew’s ward

• Quarry Bank Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in the Quarry Bank & Dudley Wood ward

44

e) Childcare costs The average cost of childminding is £3.10 in Dudley Central, which covers a range of costs from £2.00 to £4.00 per hour. As at March 2011 the most common charges for childminders in the area was £3 per hour. The maximum weekly charge is £145.00 per week by a day nursery, the maximum weekly charge for a childminder is £140.00 The following table shows the average childcare costs in Dudley Central in five different types of childcare setting although the figures represent a sample of settings rather than every one. Where costs are shown as not available (N/A) it does not necessarily mean that there are no places but that charges have not been supplied:

Type of childcare

Hourly rate

Daily rate Sessional Rate

Weekly rate

Childminder £3.10 £25.86 £9.96 £93.50 Day nursery £4.50 £27.41 £15.85 £126.88 Holiday scheme £2.13 £15.00 £8.50 £70.00 Out-of-school club

N/A N/A £3.70 N/A

Pre-school N/A N/A £3.42 N/A

f) Childcare vacancies This data was collected as part of the provider snapshot day on the 19 May 2010 and shows number of places available overall, number of vacancies and as a percentage the total number of places unoccupied by childcare type within the township.

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Places 21 26 40 260 80 26 453 Castle & Priory

vacancies 6 1 0 43 0 0 50

Places 23 178 40 168 108 0 517 Netherton,Woodside, St Andrews vacancies 5 38 0 8 48 0 99

Places 41 8 0 230 0 0 279 Quarry Bank & Dudley Wood vacancies 28 0 0 49 0 0 69

Places 49 208 40 150 96 26 569 St James's

vacancies 29 10 0 13 17 3 72

Places 56 150 16 360 70 0 652 St Thomas's

vacancies 23 30 5 128 26 0 212

Total number of places 190 570 136 1168 354 52 2470

Total vacancies 91 79 5 241 91 3 536

% unoccupied places 47% 14% 4% 21% 26% 6% 22%

45

9.3 Dudley North a) Economic situation From the Dudley Economic Strategy 2011 there are a number of plans that could improve the employment prospects in the township

• there are developments planned at the Beacon Centre for the Blind at Sedgley where opportunities in construction trades may present themselves

• Coseley is benefiting from a share of the £16m investment in Extra Care Housing Scheme where opportunities in construction trades may present themselves

b) Worklessness The percentage of children under 5 living in workless households is shown in the chart below ranging from 14% to 27%

Children Under 5 in Workless Households in the Dudley

North Township

614516

709

152 16573

194

725

0100200300400500600700800

Coseley East Gornal Sedgley Upper Gornal &

Woodsetton

Children Under 5 Average in Workless Households

c) Demand for childcare Survey responses for Dudley North was 11

The following summary reflects the views of the parents with children in Dudley North: The main points raised were:

• the percentage of parents who responded who did not use childcare is 45%

• the cost of childcare is the primary barrier to 40% of respondents

• holiday play schemes did not meet 18% of parents needs in terms of location or hours of operation i.e. who wanted provision before 7am

• a parent said that local childcare was not meeting their cultural needs.

46

d) Supply of childcare The following table shows the childcare settings and places in the Dudley North township by ward:

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Settings 5 2 1 1 2 3 14 Coseley East

Places 24 95 26 120 50 228 543

Settings 2 1 0 2 2 1 8 Gornal

Places 12 48 0 210 104 26 400

Settings 3 1 1 2 5 3 15 Sedgley

Places 17 53 24 200 124 144 562

Settings 6 1 1 1 2 0 11 Upper Gornal & Woodsetton Places 32 36 50 60 102 0 280

Total number of settings 16 5 3 6 11 7 48

Total places 85 232 100 590 380 398 1785

• Dudley North has the lowest number of settings and childcare places of all five townships.

• Upper Gornal & Woodsetton is the poorest served ward for childcare with only 11 different settings providing 280 places and no pre-school settings.

• There are just three holiday play schemes across the township with none based in the Gornal ward.

There are three children’s centres in the following wards in Dudley North:

• Coseley Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in Coseley East ward

• Roberts Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in Gornal ward

• Queen Victoria Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in Sedgley ward e) Childcare costs The hourly range for childminding and day nurseries in this locality is from £2.50 to £5.00 per hour. At March 2011 the maximum weekly charge for a childcare place was £160.11 for a day nursery place. Interestingly both childminders, pre-schools and out of school provision in the area did not declare a weekly charge The following table shows the ‘average’ childcare costs in Dudley North in five different types of childcare setting although the figures represent a sample of settings rather than every one. Where costs are shown as not available (N/A) it does not necessarily mean that there are no places but that charges have not been supplied.

Type of childcare

Hourly rate

Daily rate

Sessional rate

Weekly rate

Childminders £3.35 10.00 £3.00 N/A Day nursery £3.31 £28.71 £17.45 £146.53 Holiday scheme N/A £20.00 £12.50 £92.50 Out of school Club

£4.05 £14.00 £4.69 N/A

Pre-school £3.00 N/A £4.70 N/A

47

f) Childcare vacancies This data was collected as part of the provider snapshot day on the 19 May 2010 and shows number of places available overall, number of vacancies and as a percentage the total number of places unoccupied by childcare type within the township.

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Places 24 95 26 120 50 228 543 Coseley East

vacancies 7 6 n/a 11 22 78 113

Places 12 48 0 210 104 26 400 Gornal

vacancies 2 0 0 61 56 17 75

Places 17 53 24 200 124 144 562 Sedgley

vacancies 13 5 n/a 50 6 58 82

Places 32 36 50 60 102 0 280 Upper Gornal & Woodsetton vacancies 17 13 5 0 63 0 93

Total number of places 85 232 100 590 380 398 1785

Total vacancies 39 24 5 122 147 153 536

% unoccupied places 46% 10% 5% 24% 39% 38% 30%

48

9.4 Halesowen a) Economic situation From the Dudley Economic Strategy 2011 there are a number of plans that have improved the employment prospects in the township. The completion of Halesowen Town Centre Master Plan has resulted in a series on developments through a partnership of Dudley MBC, Vale Retail and Centro-WMPTA.

• a new Halesowen Bus Station

• roundabout and road improvements

• redevelopment of the Cornbow (Shopping) Centre

• a housing development as part of the Shell Corner shopping development

• housing improvements at Cradley b) Worklessness The number of children under 5 living in workless households is shown in chart form below and the percentage range is from 8% in Halesowen South to 26% in Belle Vale:

Children Under 5 in Workless Households in the Halesowen

Township

652 670

417

619

211152 106

35131

802

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Belle Vale Cradley &

Foxcote

Halesow en

North

Halesow en

South

Hayley Green

& Cradley

South

Children Under 5 Average in Workless Households

c) Demand for childcare

Survey responses for Halesowen was 9 The following summary reflects the views of the parents who responded in Halesowen. The main points raised were:

• the number of parents who do not use childcare is 30%

• the costs of childcare are the primary barrier

• they would like free childcare for 2 year olds within school nurseries

• they had concerns about public transport to childcare provision

• they had concerns about childcare arrangements breaking down

49

d) Supply of childcare The following table shows the childcare settings and places in the Halesowen township by ward:

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Settings 12 2 0 1 1 1 17 Belle Vale

Places 64 51 0 60 36 26 237

Settings 6 2 1 2 4 0 15 Cradley & Foxcote

Places 36 90 24 190 112 0 452

Settings 9 1 1 1 2 1 15 Halesowen North

Places 47 50 26 60 42 52 277

Settings 8 2 1 1 5 3 20 Halesowen South

Places 41 79 49 80 227 143 619

Settings 22 4 1 1 2 1 31 Hayley Green & Cradley South Places 122 195 52 120 64 24 577

Total number of settings 57 11 4 6 14 6 98

Total places 310 465 151 510 481 245 2162

• Belle Vale has the lowest number of childcare places across all wards (237).

• Belle Vale has no holiday play scheme provision

• Cradley & Foxcote has no pre-school provision. There are three children’s centres in the following wards in Halesowen:

• Little Hands Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based across 2 centres which covers the wards of Cradley & Foxcote and Hayley Green & Cradley South

• Olive Hill Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in Halesowen North ward

• Tenterfields Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in Halesowen South ward

e) Childcare costs The hourly rate of £2.50 to £5.00 per hour covers both childminders and day nurseries. As at March 2011 the average charge for childminding was £3.37 per hour and £3.55 charged by day nurseries. The maximum weekly charge in the locality was £184 charged by a day nursery; childminders charged approximately £140 per week. The following table shows the ‘average’ childcare costs in Halesowen in five different types of childcare setting although the figures represent a sample of settings rather than every one. Where costs are shown as not available (N/A) it does not necessarily mean that there are no places but that charges have not been supplied:

50

Type of childcare

Hourly rate

Daily rate Sessional rate

Weekly rate

Childminders £3.37 £28.15 £10.29 £110.89 Day nursery £3.55 £28.59 £19.80 £150.25 Holiday scheme N/A £14.17 £2.50 £78.50 Out of school club

£3.33 £7.80 £4.40 £35.00

Pre-school N/A N/A £5.42 £17.00

f) Childcare vacancies This data was collected as part of the provider snapshot day on the 19 May 2010 and shows number of places available overall, number of vacancies and as a percentage the total number of places unoccupied by childcare type within the township.

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

places 64 51 0 60 36 26 237 Belle Vale

vacancies 23 15 0 17 8 3 66

places 36 90 24 190 112 0 452 Cradley & Foxcote

vacancies 17 17 8 16 0 0 58

places 47 50 26 60 42 52 277 Halesowen North

vacancies 31 0 26 0 2 8 67

places 41 79 49 80 227 143 619 Halesowen South

vacancies 12 0 8 30 37 43 130

places 122 195 52 120 64 24 577 Hayley Green & Cradley South vacancies 47 77 0 29 3 0 156

Total number of places 310 465 151 510 481 245 2162

Total vacancies 130 109 42 92 50 54 461

% unoccupied places 42% 23% 28% 18% 10% 22% 21%

51

9.5 Stourbridge a) Economic situation From the Dudley Economic Strategy 2007/08 there are a number of plans that could improve the employment prospects in the township:

• continue with Stourbridge Developers Forum

• Stourbridge Area Action Plan Management and promotion of Stourbridge Town Centre

• Lye District Centre Action Plan including housing improvements o The Lye and Wollescote Partnership

b) Worklessness Lye & Wollescote has 26% of children under 5 living in workless households while Norton has just 9%.

Children Under 5 in Workless Households in the Stourbridge

Township

850733

495 535694

99 17346 77 95

0200400600800

1000

Amblecote Lye &

Wollescote

Norton Pedmore &

Stourbridge

East

Wollaston &

Stourbridge

Tow n

Children Under 5 Average in Workless Households

c) Demand for childcare Survey responses in Stourbridge was 23 The main points raised were:

• All parents who responded used childcare of one form another

• there is the lowest use of informal carers

• 100% of respondents said the quality of provision is the primary concern but that it was high

• cost is a barrier d) Supply of childcare The following table shows the childcare settings and places in the Stourbridge township, by ward:

52

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

Settings 11 0 1 1 2 4 19 Amblecote

Places 60 0 40 60 57 246 463

Settings 2 2 1 1 2 2 10 Lye & Wollescote

Places 12 74 15 60 31 146 338

Settings 11 1 1 1 2 4 20 Norton

Places 59 53 40 60 72 140 424

Settings 4 1 0 1 4 5 15 Pedmore & Stourbridge East Places 24 20 0 60 106 144 354

Settings 12 4 1 0 3 2 22 Wollaston & Stourbridge Town Places 50 185 48 0 90 101 474

Total number of settings 40 8 4 4 13 17 86

Total places 205 332 143 240 356 777 2053

• there are no private day nursery settings in the Amblecote ward

• there are no holiday schemes in the Pedmore & Stourbridge East ward

• there are no maintained nursery schools in the Wollaston & Stourbridge Town ward

There are three children’s centres in the following wards in Stourbridge:

• Lye, Rufford & Wollescote Children’s Centre (phase 1) is based in the Lye & Wollescote ward

• Stourbridge Children & Family Centre (phase 2) is based in Wollaston & Stourbridge Town ward

• Hob Green Children’s Centre (phase 2) is based in Pedmore & Stourbridge East ward

e) Childcare costs The hourly rates for childminding range from £2.50 - £4.50 within the Stourbridge township, with an average costs of £3.35. As at March 2011 the most expensive weekly charge was £146 for day nursery provision, an hourly rate was not declared. The following table shows the ‘average’ childcare costs in Stourbridge in five different types of childcare setting although the figures represent a sample of settings rather than every one. Where costs are shown as not available (N/A) it does not necessarily mean that there are no places but that charges have not been supplied: Type of childcare

Hourly rate

Daily rate Sessional rate

Weekly rate

Childminders £3.35 £26.45 £8.00 £128.75 Day nursery N/A £31.76 £19.35 £146.25 Holiday scheme N/A £16.67 £8.00 N/A Out of school club

£2.56 N/A £4.81 N/A

Pre-school £4.00 N/A £6.82 N/A

53

f) Childcare vacancies This data was collected as part of the provider snapshot day on the 19 May 2010 and shows number of places available overall, number of vacancies and as a percentage the total number of places unoccupied by childcare type within the township.

Ward Data Child-minder

Day nursery

Holiday scheme

Maintained nursery class

Out of school care

Pre -school

Grand total

places 60 0 40 60 57 246 463 Amblecote

vacancies 38 0 n/a 0 11 44 93

places 12 74 15 60 31 146 338 Lye & Wollescote

vacancies 2 15 n/a 17 12 24 70

places 59 53 40 60 72 140 424 Norton

vacancies 13 6 n/a 19 5 8 51

places 24 20 0 60 106 144 354 Pedmore & Stourbridge East vacancies 4 2 0 19 8 31 64

places 50 185 48 0 90 101 474 Wollaston & Stourbridge Town vacancies 27 53 n/a 0 45 11 136

Total number of places 205 332 143 240 356 777 2053

Total vacancies 84 76 n/a 55 81 118 414

% unoccupied places 41% 23% n/a 23% 23% 15% 20%

54

10. Dudley overall children numbers and available childcare provision The table below shows the actual number of children in the Dudley townships, using the ONS mid year estimate (2010) data, as the most up to date data available: and the number of childcare places available within each of the townships. Brierley

Hill Dudley Central

Dudley North

Halesowen Stourbridge Total

Total children Aged 0-14

11,100 7,200 10,400 10,200 14,800 53,700

Early years or later years childminding

151 190 85 310 205 941

School term before or after school hours

258 354 380 481 356 1,829

School hours during school term

1,491 1,790 1,220 1,220 1,349 7,070

Outside the school term

140 136 100 151 143 670

Total places available

2,040 2,470 1,785 2,162 2,053 10,510

% places available

18.37% 34.30% 17.16% 21.19% 13.87% 19.57%

ONS mid year estimate (2010) child population data has been used as the most up to date data available

The day nursery, maintained nursery school, and the pre-school columns make up the “School Hours during term time” category required by the Childcare Act although some day nurseries provide full day care and are open for school holidays as well.

10.1 Ratio places to children This shows that Dudley has an overall average of 1 childcare place available for every 5 children aged 0 -14yrs. At a ward level children living in the Dudley Central ward are better served by childcare places with 1 childcare place available for every 3 children, with Stourbridge fairing the worst with 1 childcare place available for every 7 children. However, there appears to be no serious shortage of places across the borough as identified by the Family Information Service, yet the needs of parents wanting childcare so that they can take up work or training have to be further interrogated to see if this is a hidden issue. The responses to the consultation from this assessment is important to fully test the assumptions made although limited, and to see if the estimates made are closer to the need or the view that there are few fundamental gaps in the provision of childcare places across the different types and ages for those parents who want them.

55

10.2 Registered births An assessment of the births registered at the Dudley Registrar’s Office, available from the Office of National Statistics – General Register Office, from 2005 – 2010 shows that the birth rates are fairly even over the six years. This data does not take into account the fluctuations in population by people leaving and moving to the area, in particular refugees and asylum seekers.

Year Dudley Annual Change

2005 3546 2006 3548 +2 2007 3592 +44 2008 3707 +115 2009 3755 +48 2010 3800 +45

11. Summary 11.1 Observations From the tables, charts, data and information within this assessment there are a number of observations to be made, which will form the basis of the Action Plan for Dudley MBC in conjunction with the results of the consultation:

• Dudley borough provides sufficient free early education places for 3-4 year olds who’s parents want a place

• There continues to be a shortage of holiday play schemes places for children aged 5-14yrs, although this is improved on the last CSA.

• There is little provision available outside the hours of 7am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. And in particular, there is very little weekend or overnight provision with only one or two childminders and one childcare setting offering evening or overnight care.

• More early years and childcare settings are offering inclusive services and all settings fully comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) where reasonably practical. Dudley has utilised Disabled Children’s Access to Childcare (DCATCH) funding to support both the child and the setting whose staff have received training and specialist resources

• Progress has been made with support offered and access to early education provision by gypsies and travellers in their own and local environment. Many gypsy and traveler parents are keen to be involved in their child’s early development but not necessarily in a formal setting. However, significant progress has been made through the recent Big Lottery family learning project, where at least 3 families are now accessing local pre-schools for their child to take up their free entitlement

56

11.2 Conclusions We continue to consult with parents and early years and childcare providers through our provider and various parent forums and will identify more evidence to support or deny the observations in the previous sections throughout this and following years. The limited results of the parent survey indicate that there are still some gaps in childcare provision for school holidays, although this is slightly improved on the previous CSA, in addition holiday schemes generally appear across the borough in the six weeks school holiday which run for no more than a week, and therefore they do not have to be registered with Ofsted. Access to services in the more deprived areas of the borough has also improved. It must also be mentioned that in these times of economic decline more and more early years and childcare providers continue to struggle with sustainability and, although in the past 12 months Dudley has been able to assist up to 34 parents to maintain their child’s childcare provision, as they have experience either redundancy or have reduced hours of work; and rather than withdrawing their child immediately whilst they either seek new employment or wait for their hours to increase we have through the ‘Helping Hands’ scheme funded up to 8 weeks of childcare for parents experiencing such difficulties, this also assists the provider to remain sustainable during this time. Unfortunately we will no longer have this funding available after March 2011. All childcare settings are able to access intensive business support from the Business Support Manager, who assists providers to develop a business plan, cash flow forecast and a marketing strategy, they are also able to advise on where to access grants and funding. A series of briefings and training sessions have been developed to enable owners and managers to better understand their business which have been well attended. In addition, the team have produced a Business Support package ‘Piecing it Together’ which many providers have accessed and made use of. There remain questions about the needs of ethnic minority groups, and of parents with children with special needs, which will require further investigation. The conclusions of the survey are limited by the numbers of respondents, particularly at ward level for the needs of local communities. It is important therefore that professionals working in childcare and early education, parents and carers and other interested agencies and groups consider whether this assessment reflects their own experience in Dudley. Not forgetting that the sufficiency is related to those parents who need childcare in order to take up or remain in work or education and training linked to work.

57

12. Documents The following documents have been used to develop and create the assessment:

• Childcare Act 2006 (Childcare Assessments) Regulations 2007 (the Regulations)

• Provider Questionnaire

• Parents Childcare Questionnaire

• Employer questionnaire

• Dudley Children and Young People’s Plan 2010 - 2011

• Local Economic Assessment for Dudley Borough 2011,

• Ofsted report dated December 2011

• Securing Sufficient Childcare; Guidance for Local Authorities by the Department for Children, Schools and Families DCSF

13. Links to useful websites or associated documents Dudley Local Economic Assessment March 2011 http://www.dudley.gov.uk/business/regeneration/economic-information--research/dudley-borough-economic-assessment

Dudley Children and Young People Plan 2010/2011 http://www.dudley.gov.uk/education-and-learning/

Dudley Childrens Centre website http://childrenscentres.dudley.gov.uk/ Dudley Family Information Service http://fis.dudley.gov.uk/fsd/PublicEnquiry/Default.aspx The Me2 Award http://www.dudley.gov.uk/education-and-learning/early-years/for-parents-and-carers/me2-award/ Extra time for Three’s and Fours http://www.dudley.gov.uk/education-and-learning/early-years/for-parents-and-carers/extra-time-for-threes-and-fours/

58

14.Appendicies Appendix 1 Questionnaire sent out to parents.

Extra Time for Three’s and Four’s

1. Please select the option below which best meets your needs:

Five mornings (5 x 3 hours) Five afternoons (5 x 3 hours) Two and a half full days (2 x 6 hours + 3 hours)* Three sessions of five hours each A combination of mornings & afternoons (5 x 3 hours) Please note; you can take the entitlement over 2 days but can only claim up to 12.5hours of free entitlement per child per week 2. If you selected two and a half full days*, please indicate which days you would prefer: Full Day 1……………………………………………………………… Full Day 2……………………………………………………………… Half Day ……………………………………………………………….

Free Extended Flexible Entitlement for your Child!

Since September 2010 all children who are eligible from the term after their third birthday, receive 15 hours free early years entitlement each week; The entitlement does enable you, if your provider is able, to take your child’s 15 hours in a more flexible way, over a minimum of 3 days, if this is more convenient for you. We are asking for your views on how you currently or might wish to take your child’s entitlement and to help us support your provider to best meet your needs.

59

3. If it were available, would you prefer to use some of your free entitlement earlier or later in the day? For example: 8.00am onwards After 3.00pm 4. Your provider may be able to extend the free offer over more than the current 38 weeks per year. If the extended offer was available from your provider, would you prefer to use? 15 hours each week for 38 weeks per year (school term time) 13.5 hours each week for 42 weeks per year 12 hours each week for 47 weeks per year 11 hours each week for 51 weeks per year 5. Are you aware that you may be entitled to the childcare tax credit element of the Working Tax Credit towards the cost of additional childcare, outside of the free entitlement? Yes No If you would like more information about the childcare tax credit element of Working Tax Credits please tick the box and provide your name and address below. ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Your answers will help the Local Authority and your Provider to offer the most appropriate access to the free entitlement for your child. Please return the completed questionnaire to your childcare provider by the 21 February 2011. Important Information: individual questionnaire responses will not be discussed with childcare providers