Services to maximise take-up of DfE's 2-year-old entitlement and deliver business support to early years providers

Descriptions

The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to notify the market of the Department for Education's (DfE) intention to undertake a procurement exercise for services to maximise take-up of DfE's 2-year-old entitlement and deliver business advice to early years providers from November 2020. The DfE currently funds three early education and childcare entitlements: -15 hours for the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds -Universal 15 hours for all 3- and 4-year-olds -Additional 15 hours for eligible 3- and 4-year olds of working parents('30 hours'). The DfE intends to request quotations for the following services in two lots: Lot 1: working with local authorities (LAs) and family-facing professionals to maximise take-up of the 15 hours early education entitlement for the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds (referred to below as the '2-year-old entitlement'). We seek a supplier that will: a.share expert advice and best practice with all LAs in England on maximising take-up of the 2-year-old entitlement. b.provide focused and targeted interventions to those local authorities with low take-up rates or which require the most help to maximise take up of the entitlement. c.Advise family-facing professionals on strategies for engaging with parents and carers to promote the 2-year-old entitlement. Lot 2: promoting provider sustainability and childcare sufficiency by offering business advice to childcare providers and developing the business support skills of local authority officials. We seek a supplier that will: a.advise early years providers on good business practice and strategies for building resilience at a time when many will be revising their business models in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. b.build the confidence of local authority officials to have business support conversations with their local providers. Childcare providers are funded by LAs to deliver free entitlement places, so both are key stakeholders in ensuring that places are available for eligible parents. We anticipate that delivery of this work will begin in November 2020 and run until the end of the March 2021.