Childcare Sufficiency Assessment

What is a Childcare Sufficiency Assessment?

The Childcare Act means that from April 2008 every Local Authority needs to make sure that the childcare available matches the needs of local families. To show that there is sufficient childcare every Local Authority needs to carry out a “sufficiency assessment”. This involves talking to a wide range of people to find out what they want from childcare and then comparing this to what is available. The “sufficiency assessment” is carried out in full every three years but updated in part every year.

This means there should be enough suitable childcare to match families needs in terms of:

• The location of childcare
• The affordability of childcare
• Meet the needs of children with disabilities or Special Educational Needs
• The times when childcare is available
• The ages the childcare is available for
• The different types of childcare (e.g. playgroup, nursery, childminder etc)

The Childcare Act does not grant an individual right to childcare.  Although every possible action will be taken to support people wishing to access childcare some childcare needs may not be met.  If you are having difficulty finding suitable childcare then contact the York Familiy Information Service who will be able to assist you.

What do you mean by childcare?

York has always worked hard to ensure a balance of play, care and education for children and young people. The government has defined ‘childcare’ as including play, care and education (for children other than full time school) in the maintained and community sector. For example this could mean holiday playschemes, private day nurseries, maintained education nurseries, pre-school playgroups, childminders or before and after school clubs.

Is there 'sufficient' childcare available in York

Childcare Sufficiency Assessment Refresh and Action Plan 2009

The table below gives an at a glance overview of how sufficient childcare in York is. It uses a traffic light system to highlight how well childcare matches up to families needs and if any particular groups or areas are affected.

Red	A gap exists which will prevent families from accessing childcare
Amber	Childcare largely matches needs however a gap exists which will give families difficulties in accessing childcare
Green	Childcare largely matches families needs

Measure	City Wide	Areas/Groups Affected	Summary
Overall Places	Green	Green	A number of wards will have insufficient childminder places in the near future if the downward trend in the number of registered childminders continues. A number of wards may face difficulties around out of school club provision. This needs further exploration following the Extended Service restructure (July 09). Additional nursery provision will ease pressure on 0-5 places in key areas.
Flexibility	Green	Amber	Out of hours childcare (outside of 8am-6pm) Atypical hours and shift workers.
High quality	Green	Green
Afforability	Amber	Amber	This represents a city wide issue but one that particularly affects: Those with children under the age of 3 (2.15% of families affected compared to an overall average of 1.3%). Those who are studying or training (6.7% of families affected compared to 1.3% overall). Those with a household income of £10,001 to £20,000 (4.2% of families affected compared to 1.3% overall). Those with an ethnic origin of “White – Other” (7.1% of families affected compared to 1.3% overall).
Free Early Education Places	Green	Green	Need for better quality information about the ethnic profile of those taking up early education funding.
Inclusive	Green	Amber	Issues affecting inclusivity are: Capacity - Childcare settings with more than a handful of children with additional needs can quickly become stretched.  Training – There is still a need to train more providers around SEN/Disabilities.

It is important for us to know that we are focussing on the right things. If you have the time please give us your thoughts about if we have picked out the right priorities.

Find out more about more detail about how well childcare in York matches families needs in York.

• Childcare Sufficiency Refresh 2009
• Childcare Sufficiency Assessment 2008

How is the York Childcare market "managed"?

York takes a partnership approach to try and shape the childcare market to meet local families needs. The lead group for this is the Places and Sufficiency group.