Cabinet Office guidelines state that a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) must be completed for all policy changes 'which could affect the public or private sectors, charities, the voluntary sector or small businesses'.
However, Nursery World has learned that an RIA was not carried out when the revised Code of Practice on the provision of free nursery education places for three- and four-year-olds was published in April.
It also appears that an RIA was not carried out at the time the first Code of Practice was introduced in 2003.
One nursery owner told Nursery World that he questioned whether the Code of Practice was in fact 'valid' and asked what the implications for local authorities and providers would be if this was proved to be the case.
The DfES website states, 'An RIA is an essential part of the policy-making process, because it assesses the impact, in terms of risks, costs and benefits, of any proposed legislation.'
It is understand that Government officials decided that an RIA was not required because an initial assessment revealed that the only material change to the revised Code was the extension of the free entitlement from 33 to 38 weeks, and that this in itself was not considered to have a significant impact on businesses.
However, some nursery owners believe that an RIA should have been carried out. They are concerned that the impact on private and voluntary businesses will be even greater as the free education entitlement for three-and four-year-olds is increased to 15 hours a week.
Information on the Cabinet Office website states that the Government is meant to carry out an initial RIA when a policy idea is being developed, a partial RIA prior to and to accompany a consultation, and a final RIA after the consultation.
Matthew Knowles, a spokes- man for the Federation of Small Businesses, said, 'It is very disappointing that the DfES has not carried out an RIA on two separate occasions with these rules. Private sector providers are being badly affected by them. The new system must be revisited urgently, with a proper RIA carried out, to minimise disruption to the care of children and to the jobs provided by the businesses involved.'
Private and voluntary settings are increasingly concerned that the actual cost of providing a free nursery education place is not met by nursery education grant funding from the local authority.
Darrell King, owner of the Old School House Nursery in Headcorn, Kent, and secretary of the Association of Private, Voluntary and Independent Providers (Kent), told Nursery World, 'I spoke to a Cabinet Office official who said that it was felt that there would be no significant impact on businesses. He advised me that a judgement had been made that an RIA was not carried out on the revised Code of Practice because the only material change was the extension of the entitlement from 33 to 38 weeks.'
She added, 'They should have done an independent review to analyse the effects on businesses, particularly as the DfES's own report on the consultation document highlighted concerns about sustainability. But they ploughed ahead regardless. When I asked the official if he had read that document, he said he had not.'
Nursery World asked the DfES for a comment, but had received none by the time of going to press.