Next week, Cabinet members will be updated on the findings from the 2024 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment for Barnsley.

They will consider approving actions to maintain and grow the current childcare offer to meet expanding needs of families, integrating the government’s new childcare offers, while also supporting the borough’s wider aspirations around employment, skills and economic growth.

We have a legal duty to make sure there are enough childcare places in the borough. We also want to support early learning as well as training and work opportunities for parents. To maintain our duty, a yearly review is carried out to understand the childcare picture locally. 

The assessment helps parents understand the types of childcare available, and the places on offer in Barnsley, so they can make the best decision for their family. It also supports childcare providers to understand the local childcare market and to help them make informed choices to better meet the childcare needs of families in Barnsley.  

Key findings from this year’s assessment highlight how our childcare offer in Barnsley in 2024 was meeting local needs:

• The total number of early years providers in Barnsley has increased from 244 to 261.
• The gap between number of place available and the number of places filled remains stable, with around 91% of childcare places being offered across Barnsley.
• The take-up rate of funding for disadvantaged two-year-olds increased to 77.4%, which is 2.6% above the national average.
• The take-up rate of funding for three and four-year-olds was 99.1%, which was 4.2% above the national average.

In September 2025, eligible working families will be able to claim 30 hours of childcare from the term after their child turns 9 months until they reach school age. Proposals aim to deliver more childcare places to meet this expanded offer.

From the report, recommendations include:

• Continuing to work closely with current and potential providers to develop existing and new childcare offers to meet the needs of local families.
• Prioritising resource to improve childcare provision in specific locations across the borough identified within the assessment
• Working proactively with new providers to identify suitable council owned and commercial buildings that could be used for childcare and wraparound provision. 
• Continuing to offer our bespoke training and guidance to recruit childminders and provide support to childcare providers to recruit new professionals. 
• Encourage further schools to deliver 30 hours of care to meet the needs of working parents.

As part of this transformative work, we are also currently reviewing our Family Hubs nurseries offer. The plans seek to deliver an improved nursery provision with a greater range of hours to local families, while also saving council taxpayers money. This may include alternative providers who are able to provide an expanded childcare offer of at least 30 hours, which is something the current model is unable to provide. Our Family hubs will remain open to support children and families no matter the outcome of this review.

Councillor Trevor Cave, Cabinet Spokesperson for Children’s Services, said: “In Barnsley, our ambition is to ensure that all children can access high-quality childcare.

“This is important not only for children to enable them to have a good start in life, but also for their parents, to have childcare which supports and is suitable for their working arrangements.  

“We will continue to work with existing childcare providers in the borough to ensure they have the right support to continue providing high-quality services as well as look for opportunities to create new services.

“We would also encourage families to visit the Childcare Choices website to find out more about the support they may be eligible for and make use of the offer.”

To read the full report, please visit our website.