Decision details

The Head of Community Wellbeing and Resilience provided the Cabinet with details of the current arrangements for the delivery of childcare provision at Council run nurseries and to set out revised service delivery options for consideration to further improve the local childcare offer available to families, informed by a recent market testing exercise.

The officer set out the preferred option for Cabinet’s consideration, which was Option 4 – to transfer the running of all four Council run nursery settings to alternative experienced registered childcare providers, which had been informed by a recent market testing exercise.

The Cabinet Member for Education, Youth Participation and Welsh Language thanked the officers for preparing the detailed report and for carrying out the review. The Cabinet Member was in support of Option 4 as the way forward and stated that within RCT, there were many Third Sector providers that have access to large pots of funding, that were able to offer a greater range of services with more flexibility. The Cabinet Member was in support of transferring the service as it meant little to no impact on service users, families, and staff and was pleased to note that Expressions of Interest had been received from Third Sector providers within the four settings.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care echoed previous comments and it was RESOLVED:

1.    To consider:

·       the current service delivery arrangements and associated resources as set out in Section 5 of the report;

·       the proposed service delivery options as set out in Section 6 of the report; and

·       the findings of the market testing exercise as set out in paragraphs 6.5 to 6.7 of the report.

2.    To implement the preferred option (Option 4) to transfer the running of all four Council run nursery settings to experienced registered childcare providers as set out in paragraph 6.4 of the report;

3.    To agree to the formal procurement of experienced registered childcare providers as set out in paragraphs 6.7 to 6.9 of the report; and

4.    To delegate authority to the Interim Director of Social Services, in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder, to award contracts following completion of the procurement process and to make all necessary arrangements for the subsequent transfer.