Feasibility Study for the Trials of Payment by Results for Children's Centres
01 November 2011
This study informed the selection of national measures for ongoing trials. The full report, with executive summary, can be downloaded here:
Available to download from LGA
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) worked with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) on the first research study on Payment by Results (PbR) for children’s centres. The study, commissioned by the Children’s Improvement Board, provided an assessment of the measures that could be used to pay local authorities according to their success in improving outcomes for the most disadvantaged children and families. The report recommended that a PbR pilot scheme could be used to reward local authorities for improving key outcomes, such as Take up of the free entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds and closing the gap in results for the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). Other measures for consideration included increasing breastfeeding, reduced incidence of low birth weight and reduced obesity levels. Measuring take-up of services including good quality early education, evidence-based parenting, healthy eating and lifestyle programmes were also recommended, as there is consistent evidence that these kinds of services lead to positive outcomes for very disadvantaged children and their parents. The report provides an overview of both the national and local schemes.