Dynamic Purchasing System for the Provision of Childcare in the Non-Maintained Sector

Description

The Council has established a Dynamic Purchasing System for the provision of Childcare in line with the Light Touch Regime and Public Contract Regulations 2015 schedule 3. This contract notice is to advise providers the first round of applications to join the DPS has been completed and new childcare providers can join this arrangement at any time for the validity period of the Dynamic Purchasing System. The Council is looking to engage with suitably experienced and qualified childcare providers to provide Lot 1 - Early Years Lot 2 - Flying Start Lot 3 - Assisted Places and Supported Places Suitably qualified childcare providers are able to tender for one or more lots. This DPS shall replace an existing arrangement for the provision of Childcare PS1609/17/HS, which is due to expire on the 31 March 2023. Service Providers currently awarded to the existing arrangement (PS1609) must apply to join the new DPS arrangement. The existing arrangement shall be terminated when all service providers have joined the new DPS arrangement, which must happen prior to the 31 March 2023 when the existing arrangement shall naturally come to an end. The Council reserves the right to terminate the existing arrangement end date at its own discretion. Service providers who have not successfully joined this DPS arrangement by such a time will not be utilised by the Council until they have successfully joined the DPS for the provision of childcare (DPS1003584). For the purpose of this arrangement, the term ‘childcare provision’ will be used for the non-maintained sector including Playgroups, Cylchoedd Meithrin, Day Nurseries, Childminders, Out of School provision in both Welsh medium and English medium, including Wrap around, before and after school provision. Service Providers who satisfy the criteria to their application to join this arrangement shall be subject to relevant inspection methods depending on the area of work as set out in the ITT and by Early Years Officers. All costs and charges are set by the Council. All lots are subject to the Council successfully attaining grants and ongoing levels of funding each year. Early Years shall inform Service Providers the ongoing costs and charges at the being of the financial year. The validity of the DPS is from the 01 February 2023 to 31 January 2029 with the option to extend for up to a further period of forty-eight (48) months Full details are provided within the initiation to tender (ITT) documentation Lot 1: Early Years Education In accordance with Welsh Government guidance, Caerphilly County Borough Council offers every child, whose parent want it, a free part-time early years education place within an approved setting, from the term following their third birthday. An approved setting could be a ‘maintained’ setting, i.e. a nursery class in a school, or a ‘non-maintained’ setting, which could be an English or Welsh medium playgroup, a private day nursery or a childminder. All non-maintained settings must be named in the Council’s Early Years Plan, and must therefore be registered with the Councils Early Years Service to offer Early Years Education. This service is funded by the Welsh Government. Settings must have been established for a minimum of six months prior to delivery of placements, and be registered with Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), and have obtained a Caerphilly County Borough Council approved Quality Award. Settings will also need to meet the standards for delivery through an EAS observation report prior to delivery of placements. Each non-maintained setting will receive appropriate support from a qualified early years Improvement Partner (Advisory Teacher). The Improvement Partner will also support the setting prior to and during an ESTYN inspection. The setting must work in partnership with the Council, and the Improvement Partner to ensure the Council carries out its’ statutory responsibility in ensuring the quality of the Early Years education provided Full detail are in the ITT Lot 2: Flying Start The purpose of the Flying Start programme is to support families to give children the best start in life; offer improved child opportunities through high quality registered childcare and universal parenting support programmes, for example, Early Language Development; and improve engagement of families with Flying Start opportunities by offering local services based within Flying Start communities. The Flying Start programme is Welsh Government funded. The Flying Start childcare provision will be provided for children who live in the Flying Start postcode catchment areas from the term after their second birthday until the term of their third birthday, to enable smooth transition into their rising 3 place in Early Years Education. Welsh Government Flying Start Guidance states that Childcare is required to run 5 days for 2.5 hours a day for 39 weeks a year (term time) with some Council and setting discretion for flexibility where parents are attending training or working. Settings should be able to offer some flexibility for no more than 2 sessions per day, but this arrangement is exceptional and must be agreed by the Council in advance of the offer being made to the family. Any arrangements made without prior Council approval of placement, will be the responsibility of the setting to finance. Ideally Childcare provision (which includes sessional, day care and childminding settings), should be within a 15 minute walking distance of the Flying Start designated areas. A map of Current Flying Start Areas is included at Annex 1 (of the ITT), however, the number of areas on the list is likely to increase as the programme expands. Full detail are in the ITT Lot 3: Assisted Places and Supported Places The Assisted and Supported Places scheme provides funding to support a child with emerging development needs by providing good quality childcare for the term immediately before they start nursery. The Assisted and/or Supported placement (herein after called the ‘placement’), will provide targeted intervention to identify the child’s needs in readiness for when they start Nursery. An Assisted Place provides a set amount of funding to pay for the place at the childcare setting. A Supported Place provides a set amount of funding for a specified period of time for the childcare setting to release staff to undertake targeted intervention work to support the child’s development within the childcare setting. Funding supports children in registered childcare settings which have agreed with us to deliver Assisted and Supported Places. Children with emerging needs would be supported either by the Portage team in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board or Join in and Play (JIAP) team in Caerphilly CBC. If a Childcare setting is caring for a child who may have emerging needs / developmental delays where the family is not receiving support, a Request for Support*1 can be made. The placement provides time limited support for a term, for children who are likely to be identified through the Portage team or Join in and Play team. There may be occasions when children with emerging needs are identified by other professionals, but the Council aims to support children with emerging developmental delays long before they start an Assisted or Supported placement. Children would be referred to our Early Years Emerging Needs Panel*2 for discussion and a decision on the type and length of a childcare placement in the term prior to starting the childcare placement. The key worker for the family would be responsible for submitting the Emerging Needs Support Form*3 to the Emerging Needs Panel and would be a key link for the childcare setting moving forward. The childcare setting is expected to link with the key worker for the family on an ongoing basis. The funded placement would be for up to 3 sessions per week for a term and in exceptional circumstances for up to 2 terms, prior to starting Nursery. Session days and times may vary but would be expected to be 3hours per session for 3 sessions per week or 2 sessions for a longer duration. Additional support (staff time) for a childcare placement would be decided by the Emerging Needs panel, based on the child’s needs that have been presented to the Emerging Needs panel from the paperwork submitted, and would be to support specific interventions during the session the child attends. Full detail are in the ITT