MOD Policy
We are pleased to see that childcare has been included in the emerging MoD Families Strategy Action Plan and we look forward to seeing the long-awaited draft policy from the Defence Children & Young People (DCYP) organisation in January 2017. DCYP acknowledges that:
“There is no overarching Departmental policy or strategy relating to how a range of provision should be set or accessed …resulting in support that has evolved on an ad hoc basis and is not standardised in terms of quality, accessibility, availability or affordability for Service families.”
It also notes that:
“Childcare provision impacts retention, working effectiveness and spousal employment.” However, it also says that “The perception is there is a widespread problem accessing and/or affording childcare when the evidence suggests difficulty is restricted to particular locations and circumstances. In many cases Service families are not disadvantaged compared to the local civilian population.”
If the DCYP intent is to develop a draft policy using the AF Covenant principle of no disadvantage as a baseline, we are concerned that such a simplistic view and a straight cost comparison will be used to justify doing the absolute minimum and that a policy that genuinely better supports our people is not needed. This would be a mistake and risks MoD failing to address the unique issues that many RAF families face.
Another area of concern, for many customers and providers alike, is the freedom of action given to local commanders to decide how childcare is provided on-base. This leads to hugely variable outcomes, both in terms of the business arrangements and charges applied to some nurseries and to the level of service a nursery can offer as a result. For example, we understand that rental charges can vary between £1,000 and £25,000 per annum and can “flip flop” year on year. In addition, many nurseries on-base have to conform to local authority demands as well, for example Service/civilian pupil ratios. Combined, these factors present a real challenge to manage and small, independent nurseries are particularly vulnerable as a result.
We are encouraged to learn that MoD DCYP will include in its draft policy, guidelines for station commanders to assess whether they should provide childcare and also provide the authority to create that provision, including the use of on-site facilities and buildings. But we suggest that the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) needs also to improve its relationship directly with Early Years providers and not just through local commanders, due to the wide variation in the local levels of support and consideration, as well as the lack of continuity that commanders give. We also suggest that the MoD use a standard approach to determining criteria for rent charges and statements of requirement. They could be adapted with a clear and transparent ‘index’ link type factor to reflect better issues such as location, company status, business profitability etc.
So, a transparent and consistent approach is needed, with the tendering of business for childcare that is not conducted on the say so of local commanders, nor in the apparent comfort zone of dealing with one company on a repeated basis, unless a multi-location contract is up for tender. Conflict of interest and ethics must be strictly considered. This will help provide greater consistency in the services offered – we hope.
wwww.raf-ff.org.uk ww.raf-ff.org.uk 8
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