Cost of early learning and childcare provision in partner provider settings

3 List of data tables

Data tables to accompany this report are provided in a separate Excel file, to facilitate ease of use in further analysis and modelling. All tables included in this separate file are listed here, with accompanying technical notes. The majority of tables include breakdowns by the following variables (all taken from the sample provided by the Scottish Government):

• Provider type (not-for-profit or private)
• Provider size (small, medium and large, as defined by the number of funded places indicated in the sample - small = 0-15, medium = 15-39 funded places, large = 40+ funded places)
• Area of Scotland (Eastern, Highlands and Islands, North Eastern, South Western)
• Urban-rural location (Large urban, other urban, accessible small town, remote small town, accessible rural, remote rural)
• Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile attached to the provider location (1 to 5, with 1 being most deprived and 5 being least deprived).

Data for childminders is not included in these main tables, but in a separate table (46) at the end of the Excel file.

Note that any rows where the base size is lower than 10 respondents are suppressed in the tables (using the * symbol), both to minimise potential for identifying specific cases and to reduce the scope for over-interpretation of figures based on low numbers of cases.

3.1 Contextual information about current provision

1. Currently provides funded places for funded 2 year-olds?

Taken from QB3 - Do you currently provide any government or council funded early learning and childcare places for eligible 2 year-olds?

2. Currently provides funded places for 3-5 year-olds?

Taken from QB3 - Do you currently provide any government or council funded early learning and childcare places for eligible 3-5year-olds?

3. Currently have children with ASNs registered?

Taken from QB6 - Do you currently have any children with disabilities or additional support needs registered with <ServiceName> for early years learning and childcare?

4. Currently contribute to employee pension scheme?

Taken from QC9 - Do you currently contribute towards a pension scheme for any of your employees?

5. Currently rely on any unpaid help for delivery of ELC?

Taken from QF2 - In a typical week, do any unpaid trainees, volunteers or parent helpers directly help support the delivery of early learning and childcare at <ServiceName>?

6. Estimated proportion of total hours delivered to 0-1 year-olds

Derived from responses to section A (where number of children registered and lengths of session info are recorded). This data was used to calculate (for each provider) the estimated annual number of ELC hours delivered to each age group, and a total annual number of ELC hours delivered to all children aged 0-5. The percentage of hours delivered to 0-1 year-olds by each provider was then derived by dividing estimated annual hours delivered to 0-1 year-olds by estimated total annual hours for all children aged 0-5.

7. Estimated proportion of total hours delivered to 2 year-olds

See table 6, above, for note on how this was derived.

8. Estimated proportion of total hours delivered to 3-5 year-olds

See table 6, above, for note on how this was derived.

9. Proportion of (paid) staff qualified to SVQ 1 or equivalent

Derived from responses to QC2 (how many of each type of staff currently pay) and QF1a (How many of your early years staff (including managers and supervisors if they spend time working directly with children) have their highest early years or childcare qualification at each of the following levels? The total number of staff recorded at QF1a as qualified to either SVQ1, 2, 3 or 4 level was divided by the total number of staff recorded at QC2. Where the result was higher than 100% (e.g. because providers had recorded all the levels of qualification a member of staff had, rather than only their highest qualification), the proportion was trimmed to 100%.

10. Proportion of (paid) staff qualified to SVQ 2 or equivalent

The total number of staff recorded at QF1a as qualified to either SVQ 2, 3 or 4 level was divided by the total number of staff recorded at QC2. See additional notes above.

11. Proportion of (paid) staff qualified to SVQ 3 or equivalent

The total number of staff recorded at QF1a as qualified to either SVQ 3 or 4 level was divided by the total number of staff recorded at QC2. See additional notes above.

12. Proportion of (paid) staff qualified to SVQ 4 or equivalent

The total number of staff recorded at QF1a as qualified to either SVQ 4 level or recorded as a qualified teacher at QF1b was divided by the total number of staff recorded at QC2. See additional notes above.

13. Estimated proportion of managers qualified to SVQ 4 (degree level) or equivalent

The total number of staff recorded at QF1a as qualified to either SVQ 4 level or recorded as a qualified teacher at QF1b was divided by the total number of managers recorded at QC2. This is an imperfect proxy, since there may be non-managerial staff qualified at this level. The estimation assumes that if at least one member of staff is qualified at SVQ 4 level, this includes the manager.

3.2 Cost tables

14. Average total costs per hour of ELC provided to 0-5 year-olds

See section 2.4 for further detail about how total costs per hour were derived. In summary, they are based on providers' answers to detailed questions about individual costs (shown in subsequent tables), adjusted to give annual amounts, which was then divided by the estimated total annual number of ELC hours being provided to 0 to 5s.

15. Average total costs per hour of ELC provided to 0-5 year-olds - cost deciles by provider type

In addition to showing the median (50 ^th percentile) cost, this table can be used to assess, for example, what level 80% of providers hourly costs would fall under (using the 80 ^th percentile).

16. Average STAFF costs per hour of ELC provided to 0-5 year-olds

In most cases, this cost was derived based on the total staff costs entered at QC1a - In the last year, month, week or term (whichever is easier to provide), how much IN TOTAL did you pay in staff costs at <ServiceName>?

Please include:
Pension contributions
Costs for permanent and temporary staff
Costs for all categories of staff

An annual cost was derived from their response to this question (multiplying the cost by 1, 12, 52 or 3 depending on whether they gave a figure per year, month, week or term), which was in turn divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a staff cost per hour.

In a small number of cases (n = 13) where providers did not answer this question but did provide details of ELC staff numbers and average salaries at C2a to C8c, these questions were used instead to calculated estimated staff costs. Although these 13 cases do not include costs for non- ELC staff (e.g. maintenance staff, administrators, etc.), and could therefore be a slight underestimate of the staff bill, in practice excluding these cases from the analysis of staff costs made no difference to the overall mean estimate or to the estimate for private providers, while it reduced the estimated mean staff costs per hour for not-for-profit providers by 2 pence. On this basis, it was deemed reasonable to use this approach to impute missing staff costs.

17. Average STAFF costs per hour of ELC provided to 0-5 year-olds - cost deciles by provider type

18. Average RENT/MORTGAGE per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses to QD2a (In the last year, month, week or term (whichever is easier), how much did you spend on rent or mortgage payments for <ServiceName>?), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not answer QD2a, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) rent/mortage cost for providers who occupied their property in the same way (i.e. if they rented from a private owner, their imputed cost was the mean cost for other providers who also rented from a private owner).

18b. Average RENT/MORTGAGE per hour of ELC given - cost deciles by provider type

19. Average UTILITIES cost per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' Utilities - such as gas, electricity, phone and internet' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for utilities, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) utilities cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

19b. Average UTILITIES per hour of ELC given - cost deciles by provider type

20. Average CONSUMABLES cost per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' Consumables - e.g. food, nappies, toilet roll, cleaning materials etc.' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for consumables, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) consumables cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

20b. Average CONSUMABLES per hour of ELC given - cost deciles by provider type

21. Average EXTERNAL CATERING cost per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' External catering costs' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for external catering, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

22. Average PLAY AND LEARNING EQUIPMENT costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for 'Play and learning equipment (e.g. toys, books, play materials)' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for play and learning equipment, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

23. Average PLAY AND LEARNING ACTIVITY costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' Play and learning activities and services (e.g. trips, external providers of play or learning activities)' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for play and learning activities, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

24. Average STAFF TRAINING costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' Course fees and expenses for staff training' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for staff training, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

25. Average ICT AND OFFICE costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' ICT equipment and office supplies' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for ICT equipment and office supplies, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

26. Average TRANSPORT costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for 'Transport costs (e.g. vehicle hire/maintenance)' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for transport, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

27. Average BUILDING MAINTENANCE costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for 'Maintaining or improving your building (including salaries /costs for any maintenance staff and one-off maintenance costs)' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for building maintenance, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

28. Average BUILDING SERVICES costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' Contracts for building services (e.g. waste management, cleaning, fire, pest control, boiler, etc.)' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for building services, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

29. Average BUSINESS RATES costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' Business rates' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for business rates, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

30. Average OTHER TAXES costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for ' Other taxes excluding payroll taxes (e.g. VAT, corporation taxes)' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for other taxes, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

31. Average OTHER COSTS costs per hour of ELC given

Derived from responses given for 'Anything else, not covered above' at QD3 (For each of the costs listed in this grid, we would like to know the TOTAL SPENT by <ServiceName> over the last year. For each cost heading, you can give the amount spent per year, month, week, term or quarter - whichever is easier), multiplied by the appropriate factor (e.g. x 12 for monthly, x 52 for weekly, etc.) to calculate an annual amount, and then divided by the estimated total number of hours of ELC provided to create a cost per hour.

Where providers did not provide a cost for other costs, their spend was estimated based on the average (mean) cost for providers of the same type (i.e. the mean cost for other private providers, or the mean cost for other not-for-profit providers).

32. Average salary costs of different types of employee

Derived from responses given at QC3a to QC8a.

33. Average salary costs of different types of employee - deciles

Derived from responses given at QC3a to QC8a. In addition to showing the median (50 ^th percentile) cost, this table can be used to assess, for example, what level 80% of average early years' practitioner salaries would fall under (using the 80 ^th percentile).

3.3 Fees and income tables

34. Average fee per hour for 4 year-olds

Derived from responses to QE1 and QE2. Based on weekly fee (divided by length of week derived from responses in Section A) where given, or, if no weekly fee given, then based on day rate (divided by length of day in hours), or half-day rate (divided by length of half-day in hours) if no day rate given.

8 outliers, where hourly rates implied by fees specified looked implausibly low or high, were excluded from the table.

35. Average fee per hour for 3 year-olds

Derived from responses to QE1 and QE2. Based on weekly fee (divided by length of week derived from responses in Section A) where given, or, if no weekly fee given, then based on day rate (divided by length of day in hours), or half-day rate (divided by length of half-day in hours) if no day rate given.

9 outliers, where hourly rates implied by fees specified looked implausibly low or high, were excluded from the table.

36. Average fee per hour for 2 year-olds

Derived from responses to QE1 and QE2. Based on weekly fee (divided by length of week derived from responses in Section A) where given, or, if no weekly fee given, then based on day rate (divided by length of day in hours), or half-day rate (divided by length of half-day in hours) if no day rate given.

12 outliers, where hourly rates implied by fees specified looked implausibly low or high, were excluded from the table.

37. Additional charges for food, nappies/wipes, and learning/play activities

Taken from QE3 - Please indicate whether each of the following are included in your standard session fees, charged for separately, or whether parents are asked to bring them in themselves?

Lunchtime food and / or snacks
Nappies and / or wipes
Additional learning / play activities or trips

38. Hourly rates paid by Council per funded place for eligible two-year-olds?

Calculated from responses to QE7a and E7b - What rate does your Council pay you per funded place for eligible two year-olds? You can give the rate per hour, half-day, day, week, term or year, whichever is easier.

Where a rate was given for a period other than an hour, the hourly rate was calculated based on 600 funded hours a year during term time - i.e. if E7a was given per half-day, the hourly rate was calculated by dividing this by 3.15; if per week, it was divided by 16; if per month, it was divided by 50; per term by 200; and per year by 600.

39. Hourly rates paid by Council per funded place for eligible 3-5 year-olds?

And what rate does your Council pay you for funded places for eligible three and four year-olds? Again give the rate per hour, half-day, day, week, term or year, whichever is easier.

Where a rate was given for a period other than an hour, the hourly rate was calculated based on 600 funded hours a year during term time - i.e. if E8a was given per half-day, the hourly rate was calculated by dividing this by 3.15; if per week, it was divided by 16; if per month, it was divided by 50; per term by 200; and per year by 600.

40. Annual income from parents

Taken from QE4a and QE4b.

41. Annual income from government or council funding of ELC places

Taken from QE5a and QE5b. Note that two cases were excluded as they appeared implausibly high.

3.4 Views about recruitment and future provision/expansion of funded hours

42. Views on how difficult/easy to recruit appropriately qualified new staff

Taken from QF4a - How difficult or easy have you found it over the last year to … Recruit appropriately qualified new members of staff for <ServiceName>?

43. Views on how difficult/easy to retain existing staff

Taken from QF4a - How difficult or easy have you found it over the last year to … Retain existing members of staff at <ServiceName>?

44. Expectations about future size of service

Taken from QF5 - In the next year, do you expect <ServiceName> to expand, stay the same size, get smaller?

45. Confidence about accommodating increase in funded hours

Taken from QF6a - Finally, how confident are you that <ServiceName> can accommodate an increase from 600 to 1,140 hours for government/council funded places?

3.5 Childminder costs tables

46. Summary of costs and income

The childminders' questionnaire collected information from a small sample of childminders (n = 10) about costs, fees and income, using a simplified questionnaire adapted to reflect the cost categories typically used for childminder's tax returns.

Childcare hours per year were calculated by dividing their annual income by their fees. (This method was used in preference to using data on estimated average hours of childcare provided as the average weekly hours childminders stated they provided for different age categories did not tally with their annual income (generally taken from their tax returns) and fees). Costs (excluding any earnings/profit) were calculated by dividing the total annual costs by the total estimated annual hours. Their earnings per childcare hour were assumed to be the difference between their hourly fees (which were consistent for all under 5s for the childminders interviewed) and their hourly costs.

As noted above, in this small sample, there appeared to be a fairly wide variation in the reported costs incurred by childminders, as well as in their income and apparent earnings after costs. Given this, there may be a need for further research to better understand childminders costs.