Agenda item

A grant had been received to expand the Flying Start Programme in the county.

Rights had been delegated to the Head of Children and Supporting Families in consultation with the Head of Finance to prepare and submit business cases to the Government for individual grants from the Childcare and Early Years Capital Programme and accept proposals on behalf of the Council.

The report was submitted by Cllr Dilwyn Morgan in the absence of Cllr Elin Walker Jones.   

DECISION

A grant had been received to expand the Flying Start Programme in the county.

It was resolved to delegate the right to the Head of Children and Supporting Families in consultation with the Head of Finance to prepare and submit business cases to the Government for individual grants from the Childcare and Early Years Capital Programme and to accept proposals on behalf of the Council.

DISCUSSION

The report was presented, confirming that Flying Start was part of the Welsh Government's Early Years Programme. It was explained that the programme provided high-quality childcare to families with children under four years old. It was reported that Flying Start was expanding this provision to all two-year-old children in Wales, by working in collaboration with Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Labour Party.

The Programme would be expanded gradually, with the ambition being to offer free childcare provision to all two-year olds in the future. It was noted that this expansion would enable the provision to be offered to approximately 150 additional children compared to the current provision.

It was confirmed that 10 areas within the county had been identified as areas where the provision should be prioritised as part of the expansion, to target the communities with the highest proportion of child poverty in the county. These areas had been identified as:

·       Hendre (Bangor)

·       Penygroes

·       Pwllheli South

·       Barmouth 2

·       Hirael and Garth 2 (Bangor)

·       Porthmadog – Tremadog

·       Bala

·       Teigl (Blaenau Ffestiniog)

·       Seiont 1 (Caernarfon)

·       Dewi (Bangor)

It was reported that the Welsh Government had released a capital programme as part of the collaboration agreement to assist with investing in childcare settings and ensuring that the childcare provision was of the highest quality. It was intended to request the Cabinet's approval to individual capital bids for the receipt of an additional £4 million into the field in Gwynedd in future.

Observations arising from the discussion:

¾   It was discussed that this expansion was a very positive development and that it would provide key support to children who had been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

¾   A member considered that there were far-reaching benefits to the expansion because it would enable more parents to return to work as they would not have to factor in childcare costs.

¾   A member shared their pride that the continuing collaboration between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government enabled local authorities to alleviate poverty concerns in our areas though the free childcare offers, as well as the free school meals service in schools.

¾   Support was expressed to this expansion, and it was discussed that the ideal position would be for this expansion to remain something long-term. The Council had faced recruitment difficulties recently, and members discussed how Flying Start would cope with the need to recruit more staff to ensure that this expansion operated in the long term.

¾   In response to the above observation, it was acknowledged that the staffing situation was challenging at present. However, there was an additional campaign by the Welsh Government to ensure that workers could be recruited in childcare. The officer elaborated that the Government was investing in up-skilling and developing staff qualifications.

¾   It was further discussed that work was being undertaken to examine whether childcare posts and classroom assistant posts could be combined. It was hoped that the posts would be more attractive to applicants, as the hours would be fuller and the contracts longer. It was confirmed that Cyngor Gwynedd would consider this formally if it was found to be possible, and should the pilot be carried out successfully.