Slough Borough Council: Childcare

Childcare

The Childcare Act 2006 places a duty on Local Authorities to carry out a Childcare Sufficiency Assessment by 31 March 2008. The act also gives Local Authorities a key role in shaping the childcare market; working with childcare providers to create a sustainable and diverse childcare market that will meet the needs of parents.

The assessment has involved measuring the demand for childcare by consulting with parents and other interested parties, auditing the supply of childcare and using this information to identify any gaps in the provision of childcare.

Following the completion of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment, the Local Authority has a duty to ensure that sufficient childcare is provided (as far as is reasonably practicable) for children aged 0 – 14 years (up to 18 years for disabled children), to meet the needs of all parents in Slough who require childcare to enable them to work, take-up work or to undertake training to assist them to obtain work. The childcare offered by childcare providers should be affordable, flexible and of high quality.

The Childcare Sufficiency Assessment has to be up-dated annually and a new assessment must be undertaken on a three-yearly basis.

Slough Sure Start Service, working with the Research Unit, has recently undertaken the first Childcare Sufficiency Assessment on behalf of Slough Borough Council. We have also taken the opportunity to consult on the provision of Children’s Centre services.

The Slough Childcare Sufficiency 2008 report has been compiled and can be viewed below.

A draft version of Slough’s Childcare Sufficiency Assessment was made available for comment on the Slough Borough Council website for 2 weeks from 10 and 24 March. An explanation & online reply form allowed comments to be submitted directly to Slough Sure Start Service. Partners in Slough Borough Council and other agencies were notified of this and comments were invited. However, no comments were received.