The Childcare Act 2006 (Provision of Information) (Wales) Regulations 2008

Made: 28 January 2008

Laid before the National Assembly for Wales: 30 January 2008

Coming into force: 1 April 2008

The Welsh Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred on the National Assembly for Wales by section 27 of the Childcare Act 2006[^f00001] and now vested in them[^f00002] make the following Regulations:

PART 1 — GENERAL

Title, commencement and application

1

• (1) The title of these Regulations is the Childcare Act 2006 (Provision of Information) (Wales) Regulations 2008 and they come into force on 1 April 2008.

• (2) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

Interpretation

2

In these Regulations —

• “free nursery education” (“addysg feithrin am ddim”) means provision which is made under arrangements between the provider and the local authority in pursuance of the local authority’s duty under section 118 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998[^f00003];

• “Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and Training in Wales” (“Arolygiaeth ei Mawrhydi dros addysg a hyfforddiant yng Nghymru”) has the same meaning as in the Education Act 2005[^f00004];

• “locally” (“yn lleol”) means within the area of the local authority;

• “the 2006 Act” (“Deddf 2006”) means the Childcare Act 2006.

Prescribed Information

3

The information referred to in Parts 2 and 3 of these Regulations is prescribed information for the purposes of section 27(2) of the 2006 Act.

PART 2 — INFORMATION ON THE PROVISION OF CHILDCARE

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• (1) Where a local authority provides to parents or prospective parents information on the provision of childcare in its area in accordance with section 27(2)(a) of the 2006 Act that information must include the following for each provision:

• (a) subject to Regulation 4(2), contact details including the name of the provision, address, telephone number and email address;

• (b) type of provision, that is whether it is group based, home based or school based provision;

• (c) the age range covered;

• (d) opening hours, the total number of weeks for which the provision is open and the specific weeks in which the provision is closed;

• (e) the number of places available for each age group;

• (f) the cost of the provision;

• (g) in respect of free nursery education;

• (i) whether its provision is full or part-time and whether an annual or termly intake operates;

• (ii) how it addresses demand for Welsh medium or faith based settings;

• (iii) details of the places provided both in the maintained and (funded) non-maintained sectors. The information should include:

• (aa) for the maintained sector, the

• (i) name, address and contact details of the school;

• (ii) medium of provision in the school; and

• (iii) number of relevant places in the school.

• (bb) for the non-maintained sector, the:

• (i) name, address and contact details of the setting;

• (ii) type of setting (whether Cylch Meithrin, English medium playgroup, childminder or private day nursery etc.);

• (iii) the medium of provision of the setting; and

• (iv) the number of (part-time) places agreed with the Early Years and Childcare Development Partnership as eligible for funding.

• (h) whether the provision is registered by the National Assembly for Wales (through the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)) in accordance with the Children Act 1989[^f00005], as amended by the Care Standards Act 2000[^f00006], and if so, how parents can obtain copies of the relevant report.

• (i) whether the provision is inspected by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and Training in Wales in accordance with Chapter 3 of the Education act 2005, and if so, how parents can obtain copies of the relevant report;

• (j) information as to the Welsh language and bilingual nature of the provision.

• (2) A local authority must not provide the contact details, or part thereof, of a person who acts as a child minder where that person has given notice to the local authority that he or she objects to his or her contact details, or part thereof, being provided.

School based provision

5

Where the provision is based in a school, the local authority must identify whether it is run and managed by the school.

Facilities for disabled children

6

Where the parent is a parent of a disabled child, the local authority must provide information on access to services and specialist facilities available for disabled children within childcare settings.

PART 3 — OTHER INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES

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Where a local authority is required to provide information on any other services or facilities or any publications in accordance with section 27(2)(b) and (c) of the 2006 Act, that information must include information on the following subjects:—

• (a) Local Authority Children and Young People’s Plan that relates to section 26 of the Children Act 2004;

• (b) education and family learning services;

• (c) health and wellbeing services;

• (d) play, sports and other recreational facilities;

• (e) social care and family support services;

• (f) youth services;

• (g) financial and legal services;

• (h) child development;

• (i) staying safe;

• (j) local and national services for disabled children and young people;

• (k) services promoting the use of the Welsh language.

Services, facilities or publications

8

Where information is provided by the local authority on services, facilities or publications available locally, the information provided must include the following:

• (a) name of the service, facility or publication;

• (b) scope of the service, facility or publication;

• (c) contact details of the service or facility including name of the service or facility and, where available, address, telephone number, e-mail address and web-site address;

• (d) means of accessing the publication;

• (e) location of the service or facility;

• (f) type of service and facility provided;

• (g) opening hours of the service or facility;

• (h) cost of the service, facility or publication;

• (i) any criteria for or restrictions on availability of the service, facility or publication.

9

Where information is not provided by the local authority on services, facilities or publications, it will be sufficient for the local authority to provide details of appropriate agencies or sources of information.

Signed

Jane Hutt — Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, one of the Welsh Ministers — 28 January 2008

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These regulations set out the types of information which are required to be provided to parents and prospective parents by local authorities under their duties in section 27 of the Childcare Act 2006.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2006 c. 21.

[^f00002]: By virtue of paragraph 30 of Schedule 11 of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

[^f00003]: 1998 c. 31

[^f00004]: 2005 c. 18

[^f00005]: 1989 c. 41

[^f00006]: 2000 c. 14