Contribution of the Voluntary, Community and Independent Early Years Sector in Northern Ireland

2011

Contents

1. Background ________________________________________________________________________________32. Scope ________________________________________________________________________________________43. Method _______________________________________________________________________________________54. FindingS ______________________________________________________________________________________6

Financial contribution ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6

to northern ireland’s economy

trends in diversity and _______________________________________________________________________________________________15

inclusion Policies and strategies

WorkForce, staFFing and QualiFication __________________________________________________________________________17

standards in the sector

5. concluSion _______________________________________________________________________________ 206. recoMMendationS ________________________________________________________________________ 21

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a report on the contribution of the voluntary, community and independent early Years Sector in northern ireland

Our Visionyoung children are:•Strong, competent and visible in their communities•Physically and emotionally healthy•Eager and able to learn•Respectful of difference

We believe in:•Childhood – in its own right•Listening to children – and those who care for them

•A strong voice for children•Play, fun and creativity

•Parenting•Participation•Community•Partnership•Inclusion and diversity •Excellence and evidence-based innovation•Effective stewardship and governance•A professional, committed and recognised workforce•Valuing staff, members and their commitment

Early Years – the organisation for young children endorses the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and is committed to supporting the full implementation of the Convention in Northern Ireland.

Background

early Years is the largest organisation in northern ireland working with young children and their families. it is a non-profit making, membership-based organisation and has been working since 1965 to promote high quality education and childcare for children aged 0-12 and their families. early Years also has a significant presence in the republic of ireland. early Years has built up a solid reputation as a training provider on the island of ireland and also internationally. over the last ten years, the organisation has been involved in training and best practice sharing initiatives in such

countries as Belarus, Serbia, albania, Moldova, turkey and the ukraine.

the members of early Years include pre-school playgroups, nursery schools, nursery units, daycares, sessional services, parent and toddler, and after schools, provide the majority of the group-based care and education for children in northern ireland. this is further illustrated in the table below evidencing the overall market share percentage, across the categories of providers, which its members represent:

early Years commissioned ireach Market research to carry out an independent study, utilising leading market research techniques, to provide a robust and representative assessment of the contribution of the voluntary and independent

childcare and education sector to the northern ireland economy and society. this is the first comprehensive assessment of such early childhood provision in northern ireland.

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Provider market share (%)

private daycare 76.3

Statutory pre-School & primary 3.3

Voluntary pre-School 97.8

creche 63.5

after School club 25.9

pSeep group 63.6

Scope

the three key elements of this study relate to:

1. Financial contribution to northern ireland’s economy

this section looks at all financial aspects from fees earned to other sources of income, such as grant aid and subsidies. the section also covers the distribution of place types and vacancy rates and outlines expectations for the coming year, expenditure on capital projects and hopes for the future development of services.

2. trends in diversity and inclusion Policies and strategies

this section covers the diversity of children attending early Years member facilities. considerations such as physical and mental disability, ethnic origin and family background of

the children are looked at as well as how services are meeting parental needs. the section also covers equal opportunities policy and anti-bias policy.

3. Workforce, staffing and Qualification standards in the sector

this section deals with employee type and salaries as well as education levels within member facilities. the proportion of male to female staff is also looked at as well as reasons why the profession is not appealing to males.

the study also explores how providers feel about the future and acts as an important mechanism towards the further gathering of robust information on services provided in the sector.

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Method

the basis of the study took the form of a survey completed either online or in hardcopy format. the online element was carried out using the leading market research software package Qualtrics and further analysed with the use of excel and SpSS. a total of 646 early Years members was invited to take part via a survey link placed on the home page of the early Years website supported by email notifications. information was also posted out prior to the online

version being made available to give members a chance to gather the data needed for the survey.

overall, 268 early Years members completed questionnaire responses giving us a statistically robust and representative sample on the views and attitudes of early Years members in northern ireland. this survey has a confidence level of 95% with a confidence interval of +/- 5%.

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Findings

economy:

eight out of ten facilities are operating at over 80% capacity, however, there are still financial worries for the sector with the financial situation expected to get worse and expenses expected to increase.

distribution of childcare places

the study estimates that there is a total of 32,620 childcare places in facilities run by early Years members in northern ireland.

Full-time places are most utilised by both toddlers aged one to two years and pre-schoolers aged three to five years with only 19% of full-time places provided for babies. Sessional places for three to five year olds are the most popular accounting for 89% and 84% of after school places being utilised by six to fourteen year olds.

Facility type

the majority (53%) of facilities are local community with management committee structure.

37% rent their premises while 81% are in permanent premises and 47% are in purpose-built or renovated structures.

1. Financial contribution of the early years sector to northern ireland’s economy:

capacity and vacancies

even with current economic conditions 81% of respondents are operating at over 80% capacity. this is estimated to account for 523 facilities. 40% are operating at 100% capacity which is estimated to account for 258 facilities. this is a very positive

sign that the sector is still a very viable element of the northern irish economy. 58% have an immediate waiting list for places in their facility. this is estimated to be in the region of 5,228 children on a waiting list for immediate vacancies.

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local community with management committee structure 53%

local community group - limited company 14%

local community group linked to larger organisation 6%

community Special interest company 0%

privately run childcare group - self employed 14%

privately run childcare group - limited company 8%

other, specify: 5%

40% of the immediate full-time vacancies are for baby places for those under one year. 42% are for toddlers aged one to two years. 77% of immediate sessional vacancies are for pre-schoolers aged from three to five. 50% of immediate drop in places are for toddlers between one and two years of age while a further 50% are for after schoolers. immediate after school vacancies are mostly for those aged six to nine with this category accounting for 88% of the vacancies.

Furthermore, the study found that 74% of respondents have a future waiting list. this is estimated to account for 8,354 places. 54% of future full-time vacancies are for babies less than one year. 82% of future sessional vacancies are for pre-schoolers aged three to five years. all future drop in places are for pre-schoolers aged three to five. 82% of future vacancies for after school places are for those aged six to nine.

Waiting list for immediate vacancies

% of total waiting list for vacancies in each category

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those on waiting lists for immediate vacancies - % of places per place type

babies (<1 year)

toddlers (1-2 years)

Pre-schoolers (3-5 years)

after school

(6-9 years)

after school (10-14 years)

Full time 40% 42% 16% 2% 0%

sessional 14% 9% 77% 0% 0%

drop in 0% 50% 0% 0% 50%

after school 0% 0% 11% 88% 1%

those on waiting lists for immediate vacancies - % of total immediate vacancies

babies (<1 year)

toddlers (1-2 years)

Pre-schoolers (3-5 years)

after school

(6-9 years)

after school (10-14 years)

Full time 11.3% 12.0% 4.3% 0.6% 0.0%

sessional 9.1% 5.3% 49.4% 0.0% 0.0%

drop in 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2%

after school 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 6.7% 0.1%

Findings

this increasing demand is putting further pressure on facilities to extend services as well as invest in extending available space to support higher numbers of children in the future. the need for

capital investment in facilities will be critical to avoid a gap in available spaces for children with demand for places as indicated by this growing waiting list.

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Waiting list for future vacancies

% of total waiting list for future vacancies in each category

those on waiting lists for future vacancies

babies (<1 year)

toddlers (1-2 years)

Pre-schoolers (3-5 years)

after school

(6-9 years)

after school (10-14 years)

Full time 54% 23% 23% 0% 0%

sessional 5% 13% 82% 0% 0%

drop in 0% 0% 100% 0% 0%

after school 0% 0% 18% 82% 0%

those on waiting lists for future vacancies - % of total future vacancies

babies (<1 year)

toddlers (1-2 years)

Pre-schoolers (3-5 years)

after school

(6-9 years)

after school (10-14 years)

Full time 7.04% 3.02% 2.96% 0.06% 0.00%

sessional 3.91% 11.07% 69.59% 0.00% 0.00%

drop in 0.00% 0.00% 0.44% 0.00% 0.00%

after school 0.00% 0.00% 0.34% 1.57% 0.00%

in real terms there is significant demand gathering, with immediate waiting lists exceeding 5,000 children of all ages and total waiting lists of some 13,000.

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Financial expectations for the next 12 months

2%

Financial Situation

13%

4% 19%

67%

10% 0%

39%

33%13%

competitiveness

Staff numbers

Volunteer numbers

income

expenses

get Significantly Worse

get Slightly Worse

no change

Slightly improve

Significantly improve

decrease Significantly

decrease Slightly

no change

increase Slightly

increase Significantly

3%

2%

8%

2%1%29%

57%

11%

3%

4%

15%

84%

79%

51%

7%

13%

19%

3%

2%

4%

Findings

52% of respondents expect their financial situation to get worse in the next 12 months while just 15% expect it to improve. this net gap of positive to negative sentiment of -37% (-52% + 15%), evidencing a significant proportion of those that believe their financial situation will be worse, highlights a significant cause for concern. the provision of childcare services directly supports the wider working community, so it should be noted that any reduction in available places or reduced services in northern ireland will likely limit the options for employment of parents further impacting on economic pressures.

68% of facilities expect their expenses to increase while 29% expect them to remain the same. 51% of respondents expect their income to remain the same while 26% expect it to decrease and 23% expect to see an increase. it is widely expected that volunteer numbers will remain the same with 79% stating this, 15% expecting them to increase and 6% expecting a decrease. 84% feel staff

numbers will remain the same while 6% foresee a decrease and a further 10% expect an increase.

these findings should give further reason for concern. pressures on income and an expected increase in expenses will create further financial strain on the provision of childcare facilities. Facility owners and Managers will have to budget for such increases in their cost base and unless these increased costs can be supported by additional funding or fees, then the likelihood of reduced services through cost cutting measures will be inevitable.

Fees

the study identified that fees for daily rates and drop in or occasional rates are the most expensive with them mostly being between £26 and £50 per day. Most other place types in assessed settings lie between a £1 and £25 per day rate category. this is further broken down in the following tables:

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charges for full time care

£1-£25 daily rate

£26-£50 daily rate

£51- £75 daily rate

£76 plus daily

rate

Full-time babies (up to 1 year) 24% 73% 0% 3%

Full time children aged 1yr-3yrs

26% 69% 0% 5%

Full-time children aged 4yrs-5yrs (pre-school)

40% 58% 0% 2%

subsidies

51% of respondents offer places that are directly subsidised. 41% of total sessional places are funded by pSeep (the pre-School education

expansion programme). a further 10% of full-time places are subsidised by Working Family tax credits and nursery vouchers.

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charges for breakfast/after school and drop in care

charges for sessional care

£1-£25 daily rate

£26-£50 daily rate

breakfast club 96% 4%

after school care 92% 8%

drop-in/occasional care 45% 55%

£1-£25 daily rate

£26-£50 daily rate

£51- £75 daily rate

£76 plus daily

rate

sessional care (1 session per day) 96% 0% 2% 2%

sessional care (2 sessions per day) 100% 0% 0% 0%

Findings

salaries and running costs

Staff salaries are the most significant cost for facilities estimated at £55.5m based on employment levels of 6,540 salaried staff employed. these numbers are augmented by an additional 1,200 volunteers (including 600 volunteer helpers who work directly in settings) that lend a helping hand for free. Salaries account for 79% of facilities’ costs with the remaining 21% representing running costs such as rent and rates, and consumables.

total costs are estimated at £69.5m when annual running costs of £14m are added to salaries of £55.5m. When we look at funding, we see a shortfall or gap between running costs and total income. overheads (45% of all costs) such as utilities and infrastructure make up the largest proportion of running costs, followed by rent and rates (20% of all costs) and consumables (11% of all costs) with insurance accounting for 3% of costs. the remaining 22% of costs cover a wide variety of miscellaneous costs encountered in the day to day running of facilities.

total cost: £69.5m

income and funding

the study outlines three key categories of income or funding as follows:

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Parental Fees £29.6m 54%

grants and aid £22.3m 41%

Funding and other activities £3.1m 5%

£55m 100%

21%

79%

running costs

Salaries

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

When we compare total costs of £69.5m, as above, against income of £55m, we see a shortfall in income of £14.5m suggesting a need for increased grant aid or government funding. in the current economic climate in northern ireland, a further increase in parental fees to provide a larger proportional contribution to annual costs is not viable.

With members expecting increased running costs and expenses, this shortfall is likely to increase and

will need to be addressed as a serious concern for the sector.

sources of funding

While health and Social Services are the most active public sector agency in the number of grant allocations, pSeep provide the highest levels of grant aid in value terms. the graph below indicates the range of funders and the proportion of settings they fund.

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56%

41%

6% 4%

9%

19%

1%

3%

7%

24%

health and S

ocial Services trust

pS

eep

employer

eu

peace and r

econciliation

de

da

rd

Working Fam

ily tax credit

nursery Vouchers

other

Findings

capital projects

the study evidences only a small number of member facilities investing in capital projects. 13% invested in projects in the last year totalling 72 individual projects worth £3.6m providing improved services to children and the community as well as generating employment.

47% of these capital projects were allocated to improved buildings, 42% to improved outdoor services or space with the remaining 11% being

activity based investments such as the purchase of musical instruments. these capital programmes are critical to the continued improvement of services while maintaining high levels of community support and investment. dard (department of agriculture and rural development) is the most active agency in the provision of funding or aid for capital investment projects followed by the childcare partnerships, who administered a capital programme on behalf of the department of education.

Future development of service

79% of members would like to develop their services further. 61% of these would like to develop their outdoor space and 61% would like to enhance the role of existing staff. 58% would also like to increase the quality of fittings and equipment in their facility. a further 33% would extend the type of service to include a broader range of age groups and more flexible forms of childcare and 26% would increase the number of places. When asked what their main barrier was to this development, an overwhelming 89% believe that finance is the main barrier to developing the service further, followed by current capacity of the building with 49% stating this. only 5% feel there are no barriers to further development.

While there is building demand for more spaces in member facilities, the outlook for many is challenging. capital investments are needed to ensure that facilities are delivering quality services to children as well as supporting the needs of parents and the wider community by increasing the number of places available and providing more flexible forms of care and education.

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activity Based investment

improved Building

improved outdoor Service or Space

11%

47%

42%

diversity and inclusion of children

the study finds that the incidence of facilities having a child with some form of disability is high. 16% of facilities have a child with a physical disability. 40% of facilities have a child with intellectual/learning disabilities attending. 64% of

facilities have children with sensory disabilities with the number being as high as 25 in one case. 50% of facilities have children from ethnic minorities. the incidence of traveller children attending any facility is low with just 3% of facilities having a traveller child in attendance.

2. trends in diversity and inclusion Policies and strategies:

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physical disabilities

intellectual/learning

disabilities

Sensory disabilities

ethnic Minority

traveller community

no

Yes

16%

40%

60%

64%

36%

50%

50%

3%

97%

84%

Findings

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meeting the needs of parents

the study identifies that a large proportion (60%) of facilities tries to meet parent need through individual discussion, surveys and liaising with early Years and health and Social Services teams. this has resulted in changes to opening hours and other adjustments in order to cater for children with special needs. it is estimated that 25% of children attending settings make use of a second service and this necessitates a high degree of collaboration between service providers to ensure effective transitions for children.

diversity and inclusion policy implementation

the study also finds that equal opportunities and anti-bias policies are being widely implemented (with 76% and 64% respectively of facilities strongly supporting implementation) while implementation of the evidenced based Media initiative for children (MiFc) respecting difference programme is also being strongly supported (53%).

don’t implement

equal opportunities

policy

4%

9%

13%

34%

53%

27%

64%

21%

76%

anti-Bias

policy

MiFc respecting difference programme

Support implementation

Strongly Support implementation

staffing

the study outlines that 82% of staff who work within the childcare sector work part-time.

the study also found that there is an average of eight staff members per facility, and on average each staff member earns an annual salary of just over £8,500. different categories of workers reflect salary scales with full-time employees earning an average of almost £13,000 and part-time an average of £7,500. this is contrasted with niSra (northern ireland Statistics and research agency) figures of the average annual

salary for a full-time worker in northern ireland of £22,644. When considering the whole early Years membership community, over 6,540 staff are employed generating salaries in excess of £55.5m each year in northern ireland. these salaried employees are supported by over 600 volunteers helpers offering services for little financial reward.

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3. Workforce, staffing and Qualification standards in the sector:

55%

82%

49%

32%

42%

Full-time

part-tim

e

Students

trainees

Volunteers

Findings

Pension schemesthe report also found that, despite it shortly becoming compulsory to provide a pension scheme to staff, only 16% of staff working in the early years sector have a pension scheme in place. recruiting male staffthe study reports that only 15% of facilities employ male staff. almost four in ten facilities (37%) have actively tried to recruit male staff yet just the volunteer and student categories evidence some progress in introducing a male presence to the sector. perceptions of the work being a strictly female orientated profession with lower pay are included within barriers identified in the study as

limiting this area of recruitment. other factors cited include perceived lack of opportunities for career advancement and lack of awareness of the role. Qualificationsthe appropriateness and level of qualifications of staff is a key element in ensuring a high quality service and supporting children who may have a range of special needs. the highest level of qualification of staff is most likely to be equivalent to level 3 qualifications with 94% of facilities having at least one staff member with this qualification. 31% of facilities have staff with a level 4 qualification while 32% have staff with a degree in the field of early Years childcare.

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a survey of 180 staff (based on random selection of 28 settings) in daycare and surestart settings in northern ireland indicated the highest level of qualifications as follows:

Source: an evaluation on the effects of the eager and able to learn programme on outcomes for 2-3 year olds.

highest level of Qualification

number Percentage

level 1 3 1.67

level 2 55 30.55

level 3 95 52.78

level 4 8 4.44

degree or higher 19 10.55

180 100

19

level 3

94%

6%

68%

32%

31%

69%

degree in the field of early

Years childcare

level 4

don’t have any staff members with the qualification

have at least one staff member with the qualification

Conclusion

early Years membership supports the needs of almost 32,620 children, representing an estimated 12,500 families in northern ireland. in employing over 6,540 staff directly, the sector also makes an important social and financial contribution by generating £55m in salaries with a further £14m spent in the wider economy on overheads, annual running costs and capital investment programmes.

as with most other sectors in the economy, the biggest challenge facing the childcare sector is finance. Financial obstacles are key in impeding the development of services. Many facilities are experiencing a shortfall in covering outgoings. total costs are estimated to be £69.5m while total income is estimated to be £55m leading to a shortfall of £14.5m.

in real terms, there is significant demand gathering with immediate waiting lists for vacancies exceeding 5,000 children. in particular, demand is focused on full-time places for babies (less than one year) and toddlers (one to two years). there is also demand for sessional places for babies and toddlers as well as pre-schoolers. demand for after-school places is mainly focused on the six to nine year old age range.

providers in the voluntary and independent sector indicate a flexible attitude and willingness to increase the number of places, diversify the type of provision offered, increase flexibility for parents and improve the quality of experience for children, given appropriate capital investment in the sector. even though only 13% of respondents undertook any form of capital investment during the assessment period, the 72 individual projects which this equates to are estimated to have been worth in the region of £3.6m. given that the study found that 79% of members would like to develop

their services further, this equates to a potential capital investment of £21.9m.

the voluntary and independent sector provides for children with a range of special educational needs and should be supported with appropriate training and resources. the sector contributes significantly to the building of a shared society through the provision of services on a cross community basis. the sector actively promotes equal opportunities and anti-bias policies and over half the settings implement the evidence based MiFc respecting difference programme.

the professional development and qualification status of the workforce is a vitally important element in maintaining a high standard of early care and education. the staff employed within the voluntary and independent sector have made an enormous personal commitment and investment in their own professional development with over one third of settings led by a member of staff with degree level qualifications and a further third with a qualification equivalent to level 4. however, while 94% of facilities have at least one member of staff with a level 3 qualification, another study indicates that within daycare and SureStarts, at individual employee level, the highest qualification for almost one third of staff members is equivalent to level 2.

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Recommendations

government Policy

the voluntary, community and independent early years sector in northern ireland presents as a vibrant, committed, well organised sector prepared to meet the childcare and early education needs in northern ireland. the sector however needs a supportive policy and funding environment so that the aim of achieving affordable, accessible, high quality care and education is achieved.

government funding remains a critical support for many childcare services in northern ireland. Subsidies and grant aid will remain critical in support of ongoing services. pressures on income and an expected increase in expenses will create further financial strain on the provision of childcare facilities. Facility owners and managers will have to budget for such increases in their cost base and unless these increased costs can be supported by additional funding or fees, then the likelihood of reduced services through cost cutting measures will be inevitable. the lack of funding available for future development could hinder the level of service that can be supplied. Making more funds available to childcare facilities to improve their services would have a knock on effect for the wider economy in creating employment for those who are carrying out the work with many looking to develop outdoor play areas and construct new buildings.

early Years believes that a single funding formula, which works well elsewhere in the united kingdom, is a key starting point for the provision of high quality early years provision. regardless of where the child receives early years education, for example nursery school, daycare setting, playgroup or nursery unit, each child should receive the same level of funding and access to the same quality of pre-school provision.

the provision of childcare services directly supports working families, so it should be noted that any reduction in available places or reduced services in northern ireland will limit the opportunities for employment of parents further and would directly impact on the welfare reform agenda.

opportunities exist within the childcare Strategy to address some of the issues including the pressures on parental fees and the need for capital support. even though only 13% of respondents undertook any form of capital investment during the period, it is estimated that 72 projects are worth in the region of £3.6m. given that the study found that 79% of members would like to develop their services further, this equates to a potential capital investment of £21.9m. the need for capital investment to invest in facilities and improve buildings and space will be critical to avoid a gap in available spaces for children and to meet demand as indicated by a growing waiting list. Such investments generate employment outside the sector, but are needed to ensure that facilities are delivering quality services to children as well as supporting the needs of parents, families and the wider community

diversity and inclusion of children

the incidence of facilities having a child with some form of disability is high and appropriate resources need to be in place to adequately support and train staff to ensure that all children are fully included within the services.

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Recommendations

staff Qualifications

government policy needs to consider how to upskill staff in the northern ireland childcare sector and protect and grow the staffing levels to ensure the highest level of service is provided. the focus on staff qualifications and training will be further intensified in 2012 with incoming proposals by the department of health, Social Services and public Safety in the form of Minimum Standards for childminding and day care for children under age 12. For full daycare, out of school clubs, pre-school session care and crèches, the Standards will require persons in charge or deputies to have at least QcF level 5 diploma accreditation, team leaders or Supervisors to have at least QcF level 3 diploma accreditation and at least 50% of other staff in the setting to have QcF level 2 diploma accreditation.

during the consultation phase of the Standards early Years strongly recommended that where Standards relate, either expressly or implicitly, to enhanced or further training and development, there must be high quality training, which is both available and accessible (financially and geographically) to meet the requirements of staff in their areas to match and go beyond the expectations imposed within the Standards. early Years further recommended that any measure carrying a significant cost or resource implication should be clear as to where frameworks or strategies would be put into place to ensure the required developments are properly supported and resourced.

as part of the early Years Manifesto produced for the northern ireland assembly and council elections earlier this year, the organisation called for a training, qualifications and professional development strategy for the entire workforce working with this age group, recognising the valuable experience many staff will bring with them.

emphasis should be put on further education for all staff members. current thinking and practice in relation to early childhood workforce training and development in northern ireland are disjointed, with a traditional teacher-focused academic route available for some and a vocational route for others. a pedagogue qualification would strengthen the requirements around child development, relationships with parents, communities and other agencies, and working with children from birth. the qualification would create a common core for teacher and early years professional training with specialisms in teaching and family support and would offer opportunities for teachers to retrain for work with children aged 0-6 years. people equipped with cognitive and non-cognitive skills are hugely important. pre-school is about equipping children with a love of learning, and with the empathy, problem solving and negotiation skills required for life.

there is also an urgent need to look at the provision of a transformation Fund in order to ensure that all early years staff who wish to boost their qualifications in the field are able to finance their third level education.

the northern ireland executive is committed to putting in place a 0-6 Strategy and an integrated childcare Strategy during the programme for government 2011–2015. these Strategies must address the issues highlighted in this report. if this happens, the early years sector in northern ireland will be able to rise to the challenge of providing high quality, affordable, accessible childcare and education for all children and families.

early Years- the organisation for young children is committed to undertaking a similar state of the sector report mid way through the current programme for government.

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