Bexley's early years funding is facing significant underutilisation, with a projected underspend of over £1 million in the Under 2s category alone, according to a recent Bexley Schools Forum meeting. This underutilisation is due to fewer children utilising the budgeted universal hours.
The forum convened on Monday, 6 October 2025, to discuss a range of financial and strategic issues, including an early years update that highlighted discrepancies between budgeted and actual expenditure.
The report presented to the forum revealed that while some areas of early years funding, such as the 2-year-old funding for working parents and Under 2s funding, saw overspends, others experienced significant underutilisation. The most notable variance was in the Under 2s funding, with an actual spend of £2,533,219 against a budget of £3,562,515, representing a -29% variance. According to the Early Years Update report in the Public Reports Pack, out of 276,047 budgeted universal hours for Under 2s, only 197,532 were actual hours, resulting in a -28% variance.
Other areas of concern included universal hours for 3 & 4 year olds, which saw a -4% variance, and 2 year olds play to learn, which saw a -35% variance. The report also highlighted a -100% variance in speech & language for under 2s, and a -58% variance in IDACI (Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index) for under 2s. The underutilisation in these areas is detailed in the 2025-26 Monitoring – Summer Term Budget & Uptake
section of the Public Reports Pack, showing variances in universal hours, speech & language, IDACI, and quality hours.
Despite the underutilisation in some areas, Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and Disability Access Fund (DAF) both saw overspends, indicating a higher-than-anticipated need in these specific categories. The EYPP actual spend was £132,356 against a budget of £88,322 (50% variance), while the DAF actual spend was £82,544 against a budget of £71,523 (15% variance). According to the Public Reports Pack, this overspend indicates a higher level of need and utilization of these specific funding streams than initially anticipated for the summer term.
The forum also discussed the 2025-26 Early Years Block allocation, which has been increased by 1% following the Spring 2025 DfE census. According to the Public Reports Pack, the 1% increase increased the overall block by £28.7k and will be accounted for in the 2025-26 financial year. The updated allocation for 3 & 4 year old funding is £20,612,771, a variance of £801,811.
The Schools Forum will continue to monitor early years funding and explore strategies to ensure resources are allocated effectively to meet the needs of Bexley's youngest children.