Early years organisations responding to the Government's consultation on early years funding have called for a standardised method of calculating the entitlement for three- and four-year-olds across all sectors.
Steve Alexander, chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, said he was 'concerned that there is parity in how budgets are calculated for both PVI and maintained settings'.
Many PVI providers suffer because of fluctuating levels of funding during the year, made worse by schools changing their entry point age, he said. 'PVI providers often lose children, and therefore funding, at odd points of the year or at short notice.'
Mr Alexander said that setting free entitlement budgets for PVI providers in advance for the year would ensure greater stability to plan training and development - 'otherwise the disparity in stability and funding threatens to create a two-tier system not in the interests of parents, providers, Government or children.'
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