Minutes of the Childcare Steering Group Meeting
26 February 2015
Present: Dr Stephen Goss (in the chair),Anna Bradshaw, Trudy Coe, Prof. Fara Dabhoiwala, Julian Duxfield, Sarah Green, Jane Maharry, Anne Pearsall, Sarah Pine, Emma Potts, Emily Sharp, Sara Smith
Apologies:Dr Chris Ballinger, Prof Pedro Ferreira
- Welcome
The Chair welcomed Prof. Dabhoiwala and Emily Sharp to their first meeting.
- Minutes of the previous meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 19th November 2014 were approved asan accurate record.
- Matters arising
Ref: 6 Tax-free childcare. Jane Maharry reported that information was now on the Childcare Services website. A number of briefing sessions have been arranged across the University for staff and students.
Ref: 8 My Family Care: Any proposal willbe considered by Personnel Committee rather than the Childcare Steering Group. It was suggested that due to the upcoming election and pressures on University finances, it may not be the right time put in a request for recurrent funding.
- Childcare Services update report
Jane Maharry provided anupdate on the following matters.
New Employers/employee Childcare guide
A new guide to bring together policies and guidance on childcare was being developed by Working Families in collaboration with Bright Horizons. It was felt this would be a useful reference to a number of staff. The guide is due to be launched in May 2015.
3.1 Service Level Agreement
Jane Maharry reported that a revised Service Level Agreement has been agreed between the University and Bright Horizons. This includes a more rigorous set of targets, all of which are monitored on a monthly basis.
It is hoped that the number of staff qualified to L2 (GCSE equivalent) or above in University nurseries will increase over time. The introduction of the Living Wage will assist with attracting and retaining a higher quality of staff.
3.3Nursery Occupancies
University nurseries are now all above target occupancy. Revised processes for managing nursery offers and payments are operating very effectively.
Jane Maharry reported that a meeting had taken place with the Co-operative following concerns on places not being filled at theJR nursery. It is hoped that we will be able to negotiate an increase in our allocation of places at the Station nursery. This is currently under consideration.
- Annual Childcare Services Report
Jane Maharry presented an overview of the key areas of Childcare Development Plan for 2014-15, namely:
Strategic development
-Expansion of nursery provision in Headington;
-Financial sustainability – Management of transition from childcare vouchers to tax-free; childcare and a review of nursery fees in the light of changing environment;
-Formation of draft strategic plan and statement of purpose/aims.
Operations
-Enhancements to database;
-Communications strategy;
-Enhancement in quality within University nurseries.
It was reported that funding for the database developments had been secured in full and that work is to start in March.
- Allocation and priorities for nursery places
It was noted that Childcare Services is planning a broad consultation on the allocation of nursery places. Jane Maharry requested feedback on a draft paper; both in terms of approach and content. The following points were made as part of the discussion:
- Some of the questions would benefit from refinement to ensure they do not inadvertently lead to assumptions being made on possible changes - this is to be an open conversation with colleagues;
- It would be helpful to indicate explicitly in the paper how responses will contribute to the development of the service area’s strategic aims and purpose;
- Although the consultation is to be broad it is primarily a management issue. It will be for Divisional Heads/Secretaries to determine appropriate discussions within their areas.
It was agreed that due to the re-launch of the Sponsored Places Scheme and the development of the Triangle nursery, that it would be best to continue with our current priorities for now and defer the consultation until 2016.
There also followed a discussion on the value of introducing a level of granularity with the existing student priority category to reflect differing levels of need. It was suggested that we distinguish between families where both parents are students and those where one is a student and the earning an income. VP Women suggested that such an approach was viewed favourably by students.
It was agreed that this should be investigated further and taken forward at Officer level outside the meeting.
Action: Anna Bradshaw /Jane Maharry
- Update on Triangle Nursery
Jane Maharry reported the work that had been undertaken to progress the development of the Triangle Building as the fifth University nursery.
Tender submissions for a provider to operate the nursery had been received and that presentations were due to take place in early March.
It was also noted that the date for the application to be considered by the East Area Planning committee has been deferred from March until April following concerns on access to the car park from Old Road. It is hoped that a condition to widen the entrance to allow two- way traffic be includedas part of the planning approval(rather than us needing to submit a fresh application).
It was reported that following a challenge from the Old Road Management Committee on the use of the Triangle building for a nursery, an options appraisal had been undertaken to test whether this was the most appropriate location. This confirmed that there are no other options for nurseries within the Headington area in the short-medium term. It was noted that there is still the intention to explore a longer-term solution on the NOC site, however, this will take time to develop due to level of complexity involved.
Given the delays in obtaining planning approval from the City Council, it was noted that we may need to go back to BESC to request an extension beyond the five years given the significant investment that is being made by both the University and provider to make the nursery viable. This will be progressed if appropriate.
- Allocation of places at Triangle Nursery
Jane Maharry presented to members the context for this document and emphasised the importance of having clarity on the allocation of nursery places at the Triangle nursery.
Five options were considered:
Option 1: Open up places to those already on the waiting list (not already placed in a University nursery). This is the same as the current system.
Option 2: As above, but open up initially for those already on the waiting list with a preference for a Headington nursery. This was felt to be very attractive. However, Jane Maharry reported that Childcare Services had advised some people against applying for nurseries in this area due to the level of demand and applying this option could therefore leave the area vulnerable to challenge.
Option 3: Open up list initially to those families with children placed in other nurseries to see whether a switch to the Triangle would be valuable. Whilst this would clearly be an attractive option to those working in the Headington area, it could potentially lead to disruption across several nurseries, leading to empty places across a range of providers;
Option 4: Open to all new parents on the same date, regardless of status. It was strongly felt that this would lead to upset amongst those who had waited for a place for a substantial
length of time;
Option 5: Open up only to those who work on ORC. Whilst this would be attractive to the City planners, it was felt that treating the Triangle differently from other nurseries would be unfair, with people excluded from applying. This would also put us in danger vis-à-vis HMRC tax scheme which requires nursery places to be open to all staff.
Outcome: It was agreed that option 1 was the most appropriate. Childcare Services will work through the detailed implementation.
- Sponsored Places Scheme
Jane Maharry reported that a communication on the new scheme is to go to Departments and Colleges early in Trinity Term. This is to include information on how funds from the scheme are to be distributed.
Three options were considered and discussed at some length:
Option 1: Retain existing principles of support for student parents;
Option 2: Support student parents and additionally to provide support for staff on the lowest grades;
Option 3: To introduce an application process for the distribution of funds on the basis of need.
Anna Bradshaw suggested that whilst students would welcome option 1, they would also be happy to support option 2. It was suggested that as grades overlap, it may be more appropriate to set an annual salary limit.
Option 3 was felt to be very attractive and potentially the fairest approach, however, it was acknowledged that it would be a time-consuming activity and would involve making some very difficult judgments.
On balance, the committee agreed to support the existing approach for funds to be distributed amongst students (Option 1).
Jane Maharry stated that although it was the intention to allocate 10K (10%) under the new Sponsored Places scheme, this would be contingent on all places being sold. If this did not happen, then the funds available for allocated would need to be revised accordingly.
- Update on Jack Straws Lane
A brief update of the present state of the negotiations with St Hilda’s College was provided.
- AOB
Anna Bradshaw reported that VP Graduates had stepped down from post shortly before the Christmas break. An election is to take place in early March and it is hoped that a new student representative will join discussions in June.
Anne Pearsall reported on challenges faced by some local Oxford residents getting their children into schools due to increasing numbers of student families. VP Women agreed to pass on to the OUSU officer with responsibilities for liaising with the community.
- Date of future meeting
TrinityTerm, 18thJune 2015, Wellington Square, Room 6
Jane Maharry
Head of Childcare Services
March 2015
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