Buckinghamshire Council Early Years Service is committed to supporting all childcare providers in Buckinghamshire and visit provision regularly to offer advice and guidance to ensure the appropriate legislation including Ofsted and EYFS requirements are being met.

Support is available to the whole organisation, not only the staff employed in the setting. Early Years staff can offer free advice, guidance and information to the ownership and management of all settings, including Voluntary Managed Committees and Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO)

A free Governance Support Package is available to all committees and CIOs through Early Years Officers who will offer tailored guidance and support to meet the individual organisation’s needs.
Support can be given on a range of areas including the following:

• Planning and developing a schedule of meetings for the year ensuring core areas of management responsibility are covered
• Leadership and Management – including the roles and responsibilities of the committee and individual members.
• Leadership and Management – recruitment and role of the Manager
• Safer Recruitment and Effective Performance Management
• EYFS Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements
• Ofsted Registration and Regulation
• Safeguarding – policies and procedures
• Business and Finance – including admissions, expansion and sustainability concerns
• Budgeting and financial reporting
• Funded Entitlement (FE) – how this works and additional funding parents or settings may be entitled to, for example Early Years Pupil Premium, Extended Funded Entitlement (30 hours), Disability Access Fund (DAF)

Reference Tools for Voluntary Management Committees