Croydon gains extra nursery funding

Croydon Council has had to secure extra government funding for it
to meet a Department for Education and Skills target on child care,
Community Care has learned.

From 1 April this year all councils were required to provide a free
part-time nursery education place to all three and four year olds
but Croydon was unable to do so.

A council spokesperson said the council had secured extra
government funding “in principle” which would enable it to meet the
target. He added that it was expecting the funding to enable it to
backdate payments for placements to April.

“Until the settlement in principle was reached, we offered two of
the three [school] terms to all, with the third term free if
families’ circumstances met certain criteria.” These included being
in receipt of income support, having a child with special needs and
having a social worker involved.