Overview

The Childcare Act 2006 places duties on all local authorities to secure sufficient childcare, so far as is reasonably practicable for working parents, or parents who are studying or training for employment, for children aged 0‐14 (or up to 18 for disabled children). As part of these duties Torbay Council is required to report annually to elected Council Members on how this duty is being met and to publish this report to make it accessible for parents.

Results show the population of children in Torbay is declining, with a continued downward trend in line with national average. Despite this, housing developments are continuing within the local area which has an impact on population forecasts. There is a potential for continued growth in demand for childcare, particularly in the Torquay and Paignton areas as housing developments continue, attracting inward migration of families with one or more children.

The changing needs of families continues to shape the demand for childcare. Working from home and hybrid working models have become more established in some sectors and this is already influencing how families use childcare. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the demand for paid for childcare and wraparound services has been particularly affected by this change. There is evidence that parents may now also be choosing to use more informal childcare, such as grandparents or friends, as the cost of living continues to rise.

4.7% of the Torbay population are aged under 5 years old and may require a childcare place. The report establishes that there are sufficient early years childcare places to meet the requirements for funded children in Torbay. There is a potential oversupply in relation to funded places, meaning that there is sufficient capacity to accommodate children aged under 2 and children from outside of the Torbay area.

When taking into consideration declining birth rates, there is no discernible sufficiency issue for early years childcare places. Torbay Council should continue to monitor the birth rates closely to ensure that bulge years are identified at the earliest opportunity. Similarly, the recruitment and retention issues affecting the early years sector need to be monitored closely as this is beginning to have an impact on the availability of childcare places. This could particularly impact the availability of places for children aged under 2 where the adult to child ratios are higher.

Key Changes in 2022

The number of early years children has continued to decline in line with national averages, meaning that the peak in birth rates which the local area experienced between 2011 and 2014 has plateaued and those ‘bulge’ numbers are now in the primary school sector. The childcare market is continuing to adapt to parents being more selective in their approach to finding childcare now that there are more places available and a more competitive market.

When looking at the wraparound care available for school-aged children it is evident that there is sufficient supply of places for before and after school care which meets the needs of most families. The wraparound care that is available has sufficient capacity to accommodate more children and schools have indicated that their supply is led by demand. Where there is no before and/or after school care in a school, this decision has been taken because it is not used or required by parents, or is not required by sufficient numbers to warrant a business case.

Holiday childcare is an ongoing issue in Torbay. Whilst there are no formal complaints received from families that they are not able to access holiday childcare when they need it, the responses to the parent questionnaire suggest there are problems in relation to age ranges, availability, suitability of the offers, and affordability. This is especially prevalent in households with more than one child or where a child has SEND. Many holiday clubs are not Ofsted registered, which also creates issues for families who wish to use Tax free Childcare or Universal Credit to pay for their children’s attendance.

The covid-19 pandemic resulted in the loss of approximately 10% of the childminder workforce. Torbay continues to lose childminders throughout 2021-2022 and there are currently very few childminders registering to replace them. Whilst this has not impacted significantly on the availability of places, it means that there is less choice for parents and fewer places for children ages under 2 years old.

Achievements in 2022

Provider engagement continues to be excellent with 100% of the Torbay providers offering funded places for up to 30 hours per week for their children, depending on their entitlement.

Torbay has not experienced the closure of any private group provision despite significant challenges around recruitment and retention of staff and the cost of running provision.

Take up of the early years funding entitlements for 3 and 4 year olds has increased slightly to 95% compared to 2021 (93%), remaining above the national average of 92%. The take up of the extended entitlement has remained high with several terms being over 100% due to cross-border migration with Devon residents.

Take up of the 2 year old funding entitlement has risen significantly in 2022 with the average take up being 86%. This is due to a significant change in administrative process and enhanced contact with parents.

Future

To ensure that Torbay Council continues to meet its sufficiency duty it will:

  • Monitor and work to maintain the number of childcare places available for Early Years children.
  • Support providers working in areas of high deprivation to ensure that they are consistently delivering high quality early education and childcare across Torbay, achieving Ofsted
  • grades of good or outstanding.
  • Work to improve the availability and suitability of holiday childcare.
  • Work with the sector regarding recruitment and retention in private group provision and the childminder sector