Mapping the provision of on-site early learning and childcare in further education estates and large public sector employers

Availability of on-site ELC provision

Telephone contact was made with each of the bodies and sites on the sample list (including, where relevant, additional sites or campuses) to ascertain the most appropriate person to provide information on the availability of on-site ELC provision.

There was little commonality amongst bodies as to where this information was held and, in several cases, various different departments and/or sites were contacted to obtain this information.

As can be seen in the following table, 25 sites with on-site provision were identified from the initial sample.

Contact sample

• On-site ELC provision was identified at 9 out of the 43 NHS sites:
  • Only 2 of these are in-house ( NHS run) provision.
  • The remainder are private nurseries that operate on or adjacent to the hospital grounds.
• No on-site provision was identified within the 2 large local authorities contacted.
• Provision was identified at the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.
• 6 of the 26 colleges reported that they have on-site provision.
• 8 of the 15 universities reported that they have on-site provision.

Those without on-site ELC provision were asked whether they have any partnership or other relationship with local nurseries but none was reported.

The majority of public bodies offer their staff access to childcare vouchers through the Childcare Voucher Scheme, which is generally delivered by employers through a salary sacrifice scheme.

The 25 nurseries identified in the initial contact formed the basis of the sample for the remainder of the project.

A small number of bodies where no provision was available were also added to this sample to find out whether on-site provision or arrangements with local ELC providers had been considered, and to gather more information on what factors had affected the decision making.