Issue - meetings

The committee received a report in February 2018 reporting on the impact of the increased childcare entitlement from September 2017. Following this report, the committee agreed to receive a further update in 12months time.

A report by the Director, Commissioning is attached. The report details how well we are performing in Wiltshire regarding meeting the duty to secure sufficient Early Years & Childcare places across Wiltshire.

The committee are provided with the opportunity to ask questions with the intention of reassuring themselves that Wiltshire has sufficient Early Years & Childcare places.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Angela Brennan and Judith Westcott presented a report on how well Wiltshire is performing in meeting its duty to secure sufficient Early Years and Childcare places across the county.

Matters raised during the discussion included: closures, openings and expansions in Early Years and Childcare provision; the challenges to provision; the role of childminders in ensuring sufficient provision; potential future projects and the Army Rebasing Programme.

In response to an issue raised by the committee it was noted that Wiltshire Council was working with childcare providers to ensure staffing capacity meets demand. There are systems in place to promote the ‘grow your own’ model of developing staffing teams and it continued to work closely with Wiltshire College.

It was noted that Wiltshire Council was aware of the important role childminders played in ensuring sufficient Early Years and Childcare provision and that it was actively encouraging people to take up such roles. It is currently making an online course offering training to those that want to become childminders.

Resolved

To note the update and agree that the committee are reassured regarding the sufficiency of Early Years & Childcare places in Wiltshire.