Additional funding for settings from Spring term 2023

Posted on 19 January 2023 in News and updates

Before Christmas, the Department for Education (DfE) published the 23/24 funding rates for each of the early years funding streams.

We are pleased to advise that the funding will increase as follows from April 2023 based on the DfE funding rates to Devon:

  • 2-year-old funding rate – 8p per hour
  • 3- and 4-year-old funding -19p per hour
  • Early Years Pupil Premium – 2p per hour

In addition to this the Disability Access Fund will increase by £28 per year.

Devon Early Years are recommending that all the funding increases are passported to settings through the increased hourly rate and we would not be retaining any funding from the additional payments. This is subject to agreement through the usual processes. There will be no changes to the early years formula which includes supplements for SEND and deprivation.

In addition to this we are acutely aware of the challenges our settings are facing in terms of the cost of living increases and inflationary pressures. We have therefore reviewed our current budget and have approval to implement some partial increases from Spring Term 2023.

From 1st January 2023 until 31st March 2023 (This is an interim arrangement prior to approval for full increases from 1st April 2023):

  • 2-year-old funding will increase by 8p to £5.34 per hour, (£5.32 base rate + 2p Deprivation)
  • 3- and 4-year-old funding will increase by 4p to £4.42 per hour (£4.34 base rate + 4p Universal SEND and 4p Deprivation)
  • Early Years Pupil Premium will increase by 2 p 62p per hour (universal only)
  • Disability Access Funding will increase by £28 to an annual allocation of £828 (this will continue to be pro rata for school starters).

There are still pressures within our early years SEND budgets, particularly for the individual inclusion funding, but we also understand that there are other financial pressures that providers are experiencing.

We hope that by introducing these increases from spring, rather than summer, it will help to support providers during these challenging times.