Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee supports the effectiveness of the Council’s strategic response to securing sufficient, sustainable, and high quality childcare within the county that is responsive to the needs of children and their families;

(b)       That the Committee supports the on-going work and commitment to the delivery of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment every five years and the annual Progress Report; and

(c)       That a workshop for Members of the Committee be arranged for a future date to be held at the Westwood Centre, Buckley.

TheEarly Years and Family Support Service Manager presented a broader context of the report on how they were meeting the statutory duty for the local authority under the Childcare Act (2006).  She explained that their focus was always on the two key elements of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment which were:-

·         Providing sufficient, sustainable, and flexible childcare that was responsive to parents’ needs.

·         Providing information, advice and assistance relating to childcare to parents, prospective parents and those with parental responsibility or care of a child.

She highlighted key points within the report and gave a wider context within the service and with other key partners.

In response to a question raised by the Vice-Chair concerning postcodes and the access to childcare, the Early Years and Family Support Services Manager explained that they were working hard for that not to be the case but that they were influenced by Welsh Government and had to follow their lead.  She said that they were given the number of children that they could take on and if this number was not met then they were able to roll out further.

The Vice-Chair also questioned whether there was provision or crèche facilities for small children to mix with immigrant children while their parents were being taught English. In response, the Early Years and Family Support Service Manager advised that there were facilities at Ty Calon that would allow for childcare to run alongside parenting programmes but would check about the crèche provision; also she was not aware of any demand in relation to small children mixing with immigrant children but would look into it.

In response to the questions raised by Councillor Mackie on the different involvement of organisations, it was decided that due to their complexity that it would be better to wait until the workshop to explain them.  In answer to the other question he raised on the word ‘disruptor’ being used in paragraph 1.12, the Early Years and Family Support Services Manager said that it was in relation to the differences between Early Entitlement and Childcare Offer especially around the fees.  She explained that Flintshire made sure that the disruptor was positive and piloted a rate working with Welsh Government to contribute to the Early Entitlement Programme which she advised had now been increased nationally to match the Childcare Offer so that both programmes were now paying the same rate.  She added that Flying Start had also been aligned to the same rate.

The Vice-Chair accepted the offer of a workshop and asked that it be added to the Forward Work Programme which was agreed by Members.

Councillor Gladys Healey asked if there was any training for Childminders to help communicate with non-speaking English parents and children. The Early Years and Family Support Services Manager said that she would forward her a copy of the Childminders’ curriculum so that she could see what was covered.  She also advised that under legislation, equality was covered as part of the childminders registration process and agreed that there should be no language barrier in welcoming parents and children.  She advised that they ran language programmes called Eclan, which can be adapted to any language and Makaton as they find that a lot of children sign to each other which parents can also join in with.

The recommendations within the report were moved by Councillor Tina Claydon and seconded by Councillor Gladys Healey.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee supports the effectiveness of the Council’s strategic response to securing sufficient, sustainable, and high quality, childcare within the county that is responsive to the needs of children and their families;

(b)       That the Committee supports the on-going work and commitment to the delivery of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment every five years and the annual Progress Report; and

(c)       That a workshop for Members of the Committee be arranged for a future date to be held at the Westwood Centre, Buckley.