The latest About Early Years data from Ceeda reveals early years settings are facing an average funding shortfall of 17 per cent to deliver early education places for three- and four-year-olds and a 32 per cent shortfall for two-year-olds.
The average estimated cost to deliver a funded two-year-old place is £6.90 an hour, a third higher (32 per cent) than the average funding rate paid to providers of £5.23 per hour, per child.
The average estimated cost of delivering a funded place for three- and four-year-olds is £5.08, 17 per cent higher than the average funding rate of £4.34.
When taking these shortfalls into account for all funded places delivered in PVI settings (84 per cent of two-year-old places, 38 per cent of those for three- and four-year-olds for the 15 hours and an estimated 38 per cent for the 30 hours), this amounts to a total shortfall of £370 million per annum.
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