The early years block for funded places - Find a freedom of information request

Financial year 2023/24

1. Did you have an underspend in the early years block for funded places at the end of 2023/24? Yes/no. If yes, please give amount of underspend: OR:

2. Did you have an overspend in the early years block for funded places at the end of 2023/24? Yes/no. If yes, please give amount of overspend:

3. What actions, if any, were agreed relating to this underspend or overspend? Offset deficit in schools block Offset deficit in high needs block Carried forward to 2024/25 budget Re-distributed to the early years providers Retained in reserves No action has been agreed Other - please specify

4. Under the pass-through regulations, what percentage of your budget for funded three and four-year-olds did you pass through to providers in 2023/24?

5. What was the % pass through to providers of your Early Years Supplementary Grant which local authorities received for the period September 2023 to March 2024.

6. Teachers' pay grant and teachers' pension employer contribution (TPPG) in 2023/24:

7. How much additional funding did your local authority receive in the early years block as a result of changes to the TPPG allocation in 2023/24?

8. What percentage of early years providers in your local authority area were eligible to receive additional funding as a result of the TPPG rate being added to the EYNFF rates.

9. What percentage of private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years providers in your local authority area were eligible to receive additional funding as a result of the TPPG rate being added to the EYNFF rates.

10. What decisions were made about how the TPPG funding uplift was distributed? (for example: used to create separate supplements to the early years hourly rate, distributed to specific categories of providers only, added to the overall early years base rate, etc.)

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you.

Financial year 2023/24

1. Yes 0.571m

2. No

3. Offset deficit in high needs block Schools’ Forum supported the Local Authority’s proposals to earmark this against the planned overspend on High Needs in 2024/25.

4. 95.61%

5. 100%

6. 100%

7. £228,477

8. 607 (526 PVI, 81 sch) providers overall. 48 schools received this: 8% (rounded)

9. 0% The award of TPPG is through a supplement within Lincolnshire’s local formula to school-based nurseries to support teachers’ pay cost rises. The Local Authority has continued to distribute this funding based on the original purpose of the grant in meeting school-based nurseries teachers’ pay cost rises.

10. Distributed to specific categories of providers only- base rate determined based on total participation claimed for 3- and 4-year-olds to schools/academies with nurseries. ( based on 2022 data)

The Local Authority applied a temporary rate increase in 2024/25 of 3 pence for the 3 and 4 year old year base rate met by reserves that had been planned to be utilized in 2023/24.