The council is proposing to audit settings at random to make sure that nurseries seeking free entitlement funding meet the criteria of the Code and do not include top-up funding.
Settings are required to complete a self-evaluation form to claim supplements under the EYSFF. The funding is linked to staff qualifications, flexibility in the offer of free entitlement, the setting's Ofsted rating and whether it is in an area of deprivation.
At the audit, settings will need to show documentary evidence to support their self-assessment returns to show that they are meeting the flexibility criteria for providing the 15 hours and offering parents enough choice on the times of day children can start and finish at nursery.
The code states that local authorities will put in place 'proportionate auditing and accounting procedures' to ensure that funding for free places is allocated appropriately.
But Nicole Kennedy, who runs Sunrise Pre-School in Brent, said early years settings needed more clarity about what the audit would entail. She added, 'How can they say they are going to audit us, when they haven't said what they're going to audit? The council is suggesting that advisory teachers and SENCOs carry out the audit. It's wholly inappropriate that someone with no knowledge of running a business should be carrying out what is a financial audit. It's a bit misguided - are they really qualified?'
She also said issues around the way the EYSFF was calculated needed to be resolved, particularly regarding flexibility.
Providers that are able to offer the 15 hours a week are given an extra 30 pence more an hour per child if they are 'fully flexible' and 15p an hour if they are 'partially flexible'. But Ms Kennedy said, 'What is flexible? Do parents have to have complete choice? No-one is able to say categorically what flexibility is. It is difficult for local authorities to interpret from the code what flexibility means.'
A council spokesperson said, 'Private, voluntary and independent nurseries in Brent provide excellent nursery provision and Brent Council provides £4.5m per year to them. As part of Brent's duty to safeguard public funds, we carry out a very simple check to ensure the data provided by these nurseries, which determines the distribution of part of this funding, is generally accurate and robust.
'These organisations are fully independent of the council so this is not a detailed financial audit and does not represent any material administrative burden on these providers. For example, we would want to see evidence of staff qualifications in support of the Quality Supplement that is part of our local EYSFF.
'Brent's maintained schools also provide similar nursery places and, as they are under the full control of the council, are subject to much more detailed and involved financial audits on a more frequent basis undertaken by the council's audit team.'