30 Hours, Part 4: Northumberland - Help out there

With its moors and mountains, isolated farmsteads and scattered hamlets, Northumberland is an obvious choice when it comes to testing out issues around rurality. As the least densely populated county in England, with an average of 62 people per square mile, Northumberland is looking at how it can meet the needs of its most geographically isolated families during its trial of the 30 funded hours for three- and four-year-olds.

The first task for the local authority was to come up with a definition of rurality, to ensure it was targeting the right cohort of parents. Take-up was then rolled out gradually, starting with the most rural. A digital system developed by the council meant a parent could only start the application process if they were eligible, in order to manage expectations. Within the first 45 minutes of opening the digital system, 50 families had applied. The council is now able to use the system to communicate directly with parents who have taken up the offer.

‘Rural parents have different working and childcare patterns from more urban families,’ says Eve Sinclair, early years sustainability officer at Northumberland County Council. ‘They don’t just use the childcare on their doorstep, so we didn’t want to say you can only use provision in rural areas. Some are driving up to an hour and a half to work, and they drop the child at childcare on the way, so this trial would only work if we were delivering it right across the county. Some parents want the childcare to be near their work so they can pick up straight away if there is a problem.’

The council is using the trial to gather data on how far parents are travelling to access childcare. ‘It is very different from the two-year-old entitlement, where parents’ choice of childcare is generally in pram-pushing distance,’ says Ms Sinclair.

In Northumberland, it was initial interest from some providers, who saw the trial as a business opportunity, that prompted the local authority to apply for the pilot. The council sees the 30 hours as an opportunity to build the sustainability and viability of the local childcare sector. ‘We wanted to respond to and support the interest from providers, support working parents with flexible and educational childcare, stimulate the market and build capacity,’ says David Street, commissioner for early years and primary education at Northumberland County Council. ‘There are a lot of hand-to-mouth operations going on in Northumberland. We felt the extended entitlement would offer more work, as well as improve overall outcomes – for example, around school readiness.’

Selling the 30 hours

While some providers had already expressed an interest, others had reservations. ‘There is some competition between schools and PVI settings, and some settings ask, “Are schools going to go to 30 hours tomorrow and put PVIs out of business?”,’ says Mr Street. ‘We have been brutally honest with providers from the start. People said, “Will it put me out of business?” Well, it might. Or it may be an opportunity to grow your business, or you may go out of business without this opportunity.’