Agenda item

Early Years

It was moved by Councillor Jillian Creasy, seconded by Councillor Rob Murphy, that this Council:-

(a)       notes that the Authority is projecting to spend £45m less than budgeted for in its Capital Programme for 2012-13 by the end of March 2013;

(b)       notes that this sum – comparable to the entire budget cut in 2012-13 – was budgeted for and remains unspent;

(c)        notes the unspent £3.903 million arising from “underspending on project estimates” and “other variations” within the Children, Young People and Families (CYPF) portfolio alone would more than pay for the entire cuts to Early Years services;

(d)       reiterates the finding in the report to Cabinet on 21^st March 2012 - that the 0 to 5 Early Years are “the most important period in a child’s growth and development and can make a significant difference to a child’s future life chances.  The quality of health, care and education that young children experience during these years is critical to ensure that they have the best start in life.  As well as being welcoming of children, irrespective of need, parents said the most important feature they look for in a setting is one that shows they really care about the children in their care and take seriously the responsibilities that parents place on them to care for their child.”; and

(e)       requests officers within CYPF and finance to explore ways of using at least part of this capital sum to help child care settings prepare themselves for the transition to providing Free Early Learning for two-year-olds.

Whereupon it was moved by Councillor Ian Auckland, seconded by Councillor Simon Clement-Jones, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraphs (c) to (e) and the addition of new paragraphs (c) to (f) as follows:-

(c)        notes that this underspend is not an unprecedented phenomenon;

(d)       believes a proportion of this underspend should be allocated to “shovel-ready” capital projects in culture, leisure and park facilities;

(e)       highlights that these projects will not only improve services but boost the local economy; and

(f)        furthermore, recommends that a number of future allocations in the capital programme should be reviewed, including the £2.2 million earmarked for City Centre Civic Accommodation.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

It was then moved by Councillor Jackie Drayton, seconded by Councillor Bryan Lodge, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)       regrets, along with eminent Early Years specialists, including Dame Tickell, the decision made by this Coalition Government to cut £7.4m from the Early Intervention Grant;

(b)       further regrets that the Government has taken away funding from early intervention and prevention, 'wraparound' services to children and families and redistributed it to the Deputy Prime Minister’s pet project of 'free learning for two year olds';

(c)        reminds the smallest opposition party that capital programme funding cannot be used to fund revenue spending;

(d)       notes that capital schemes in the Children, Young People and Families portfolio are mostly two or three years projects running over academic years and any profile spend is not an actual 'underspend' but just accounts for the difference in the academic and financial years;

(e)       also reminds the smallest opposition group that any attempt to take money away means that schools across the City would not get their 'promised' improvements, including to boilers, windows and toilets; and

(f)        is committed to working with providers to enable them to develop sustainable business plans for their organisations and help them to access all other relevant funding.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       regrets, along with eminent Early Years specialists, including Dame Tickell, the decision made by this Coalition Government to cut £7.4m from the Early Intervention Grant;

(b)       further regrets that the Government has taken away funding from early intervention and prevention, 'wraparound' services to children and families and redistributed it to the Deputy Prime Minister’s pet project of 'free learning for two year olds';

(c)        reminds the smallest opposition party that capital programme funding cannot be used to fund revenue spending;

(d)       notes that capital schemes in the Children, Young People and Families portfolio are mostly two or three years projects running over academic years and any profile spend is not an actual 'underspend' but just accounts for the difference in the academic and financial years;

(e)       also reminds the smallest opposition group that any attempt to take money away means that schools across the City would not get their 'promised' improvements, including to boilers, windows and toilets; and

(f)        is committed to working with providers to enable them to develop sustainable business plans for their organisations and help them to access all other relevant funding.

(Note:  1. The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Vickie Priestley) and Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Shaffaq Mohammed, Robert Murphy, Jillian Creasy, Rob Frost, Sylvia Anginotti, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Anders Hanson, Katie Condliffe, David Baker, and Alison Brelsford voted for paragraphs (c) to (f) and against paragraphs (a) and (b) of the Substantive Motion and asked for this to be recorded.

2. Councillors Robert Murphy and Jillian Creasy voted paragraphs (a) and (b) and against paragraphs (c) to (f) of the Substantive Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)