The Families in the Age of Austerity final summary of the project draws these strands together, presenting a multi-dimensional picture of family life through an age of austerity. Through the report the Family and Childcare Trust also highlights a series of policy recommendations to help families cope with the pressures of austerity.

1. Advice and assistance for parents
A survey of Family Information Services in England and Wales
December 2011

2. An estimated 88
per cent of local
authorities have
cut their budgets
for family
information
Every year many thousands of parents
receive help finding childcare through their
local Family Information Service. As well as
answering parents’ questions about local
childcare provision and sources of
financial help, many Family Information
Services offer much more. Through
childcare brokerage they give greater
assistance to parents who cannot find
suitable childcare and they help some
families apply for grants and other financial
support such as Tax Credits. Getting
information out to disadvantaged sectors
of society is another key role of Family
Information Services.
But new Daycare Trust and NAFIS research
shows that spending cuts, as well as
changes to the way that local authorities
deliver information, are jeopardising the
quality of these crucial services. An
estimated 88 per cent of local authorities
have cut their budgets for family
information and a growing number of them
are merging their Family Information
Services into call centres. This
development undermines outreach and
childcare brokerage services and puts
some local authorities in breach of duties
in the Childcare Act 2006 and its
accompanying regulations and statutory
guidance.
A survey of Family Information Services
in England and Wales - December 2011
01

3. Until the late 1990s parents found it difficult to find
affordable childcare and as a consequence many
mothers left the labour market when they had
children. In 1998 the National Childcare Strategy
committed the Government to increasing the
availability and affordability of early childhood
education and childcare. Over the next six years,
the Government increased the level of financial
help available for childcare, through the
introduction of a childcare element of tax credit.
At the same time Government introduced an
entitlement to free early education for all three and
four year olds and enabled local authorities to set
up Sure Start children’s centres. These children’s
centres delivered a range of universal and
targeted services to the under fives and families,
often bringing together education, NHS, welfare-
to-work service, further education and third sector
service providers. From 2000 onwards there was
also a significant expansion of childcare places in
nurseries, after-school and holiday clubs, with
maintained, voluntary and private sector providers
all offering much more childcare.
These developments sat alongside many other
changes to education and family policy – changes
which aimed to improve children’s outcomes. For
example, we saw major changes to the delivery of
youth work and careers advice, thorough the
introduction of the Connexions advice service for
13-19 year olds. We also saw the implementation
of an extended schools programme, which aimed
to open schools to children, families and
communities beyond the school day and deliver a
range of services including homework clubs,
sporting and cultural enrichment activities for
children, as well as targeted support services for
children and their parents. The extended school
programme also obliged schools to organise
breakfast and after-school childcare (Department
for Education and Skills, 2002).
The overhaul of childcare provision and the
development of new children’s services brought the
importance of information to the attention of policy-
makers. If children and their parents are to benefit
from affordable childcare, play provision and the
diverse range of sporting and cultural activities
available locally, families need to know about what
is on offer. Moreover, this information needs to get
to all parents, including those with the fewest
educational qualifications, no internet access,
limited literacy or fluency in English. Education
legislation going through Parliament presented the
Government with the opportunity to address the
information needs of families. Section 118A (3) of
the School Standards and Framework Act 1998
introduced a childcare information duty for local
authorities in England and Wales.
As a consequence of the 1998 legislation, from
1999 onwards a growing number of local authorities
– in all parts of the UK – set up Children’s
Information Services which aimed to address this
need for information. In the areas covered by the
first Sure Start children’s centres from 1999, these
local programmes delivered much of this
information to families. The work of these first
family-focussed information services was
recognised in Choice for parents: the best start for
children, the Government’s ten year childcare
strategy, published in 2004.
The development of Family Information Services
“Parents often lack easy access to
information about what choices are
available to them as they try to balance
work and family life and about what
services they can access for their
children. In disadvantaged areas, Sure
Start Local Programmes have fulfilled
this role in providing a broad range of
information about what childcare and
other support for parents is available
locally”
HM Treasury, 2004
02

4. The 2004 childcare strategy outlined a commitment
by Government to improve parents’ access to
information. This pledge became a reality with the
passage of the Childcare Act 2006, which extended
local authorities’ existing duties to provide
information about childcare. This legislation came
into force in 2008, alongside regulations and
statutory guidance (Department for Children,
Schools and Families, 2008; Welsh Assembly
Government, 2008).
In England, Section 12 of the Childcare Act 2006
obliges local authorities to run a service providing
information, advice and assistance about childcare
and other activities of benefit to parents, children
and young people up to the age of 20. Section 27
of the same Act obliges local authorities in Wales to
provide a similar information service. There are
also regulations attached to Section 12 and Section
27 of the Act – The Childcare Act 2006 (Provision
of Information to Parents) (England) Regulations
2007 and the Childcare Act 2006 (Provision of
Information) (Wales) Regulations 2008. Both of
these statutory instruments provide a detailed
outline of the type of childcare information that local
authorities are required to provide to families
including: contact details and registration
information, the cost of childcare, the times it is
provided and its suitability for disabled children.
Both sets of regulations also oblige local authorities
to provide information about other services for
families, children and young people. However,
there is a marked divergence in this aspect of the
regulations: those applying to English local
authorities only make a very general mention of
‘services and facilities’ for families, children and
young people, whereas the Welsh regulations
specify in detail the type of information that Family
Information Services are obliged to provide,
including information about education and family
learning services, health services, youth services
and play, sports and other recreational facilities.
There is also statutory guidance for local
authorities on the implementation of Section 12
and Section 27 of the Childcare Act 2006
(Department for Children, Schools and Families,
2008; Welsh Assembly Government, 2008). The
statutory guidance for English local authorities
makes Directors of Children’s Services responsible
for fulfilling the duties outlined in the Childcare Act
2006. It requires that local authorities hold and
provide information on registered and non-
registered childcare, as well as other services of
relevance to parents and children. The guidance
also gives much greater detail about the range of
the latter services than do the regulations attached
to the Childcare Act 2006. The statutory guidance
for English local authorities also obliges them to
hold information about the suitability of services for
children with disabilities or special educational
needs. In order to build a recognised ‘brand’ the
guidance also recommends that Family Information
Service is used as the name for the service.
Anticipating that some parents will need extra help
finding childcare, the statutory guidance for English
local authorities obliges them to provide childcare
brokerage. Although the guidance does not define
childcare brokerage, it gives examples of this
service. Parents may be helped to widen their
search criteria, for example. For some parents,
Family Information Services may contact a
childcare provider on behalf of the family, for
example to check if provision is suitable for a
disabled child.
The guidance for local authorities in Wales does
not oblige them to provide childcare brokerage
(Welsh Assembly Government, 2008). It is also
different from the English guidance in that it
provides a list of minimum standards that all local
authorities must meet, but in most other respects
the Welsh and English guidance is similar.
Legal duties
03

5. There are now 172 Family Information Services in
England and Wales. Two groupings of local
authorities presently deliver their Family
Information Services in partnership with
neighbouring areas (this practice may increase as
a consequence of cuts to local authority budgets).
Most Family Information Services were initially
located in Children’s Services directorates within
local authorities, although a few were based in
customer services directorates within their councils
All Family Information Services provide written and
web-based information on childcare, as well as
answering telephone and email enquiries. Many
Family Information Services also provide face-to-
face help, through outreach sessions or through a
‘shop front’ presence (In 2009 some 53 Family
Information Services had direct contact with the
public through a shop front (Department for
Children, Schools and Families, 2009)). Family
Information Services also reach parents through
children’s centres.
Family Information Services have also pioneered
ways of delivering information to hard-to-reach
groups such as working parents and those with
limited literacy or fluency in English. These
outreach methods include the use of health visitors
to alert new parents to Family Information Services
and putting stickers about the service in the
parent-held baby development book. Many Family
Information Services attend local events and
parents’ evenings in primary schools and some
visit supermarkets on Saturday to target working
parents. A number of Family Information Services
work closely with Jobcentre Plus or welfare-to-
work providers.
As they are new forms of help, Family Information
Services risk having a low brand recognition. The
Department for Education’s Childcare and Early
Years Survey of Parents suggested that 31 per
cent of parents in the survey had heard of Family
Information Services and 13 per cent had used
them (Department for Education, 2010a).
Only 31% of parents
have heard of
family information
Services...
“I started college and I was missing a
couple of days [childcare] and I was on
a six week probation and I couldn’t fail
that probation. So I had to find a
nursery - emergency - so basically I
went on the internet to the Family
Information Service and phoned up all
the nurseries that had vacancies, and
that’s how I found the nursery.”
Young mother on a welfare-to-work
programme, interviewed by Daycare
Trust, 2010.
This is a high proportion of parents for a relatively
new service. The same survey suggests that of
those parents who used them, 84 per cent felt that
Family Information Services were helpful or very
helpful.
Family Information Services today
04

6. Since their inception as Children’s Information
Services, much excellent practice has been
developed by today’s Family Information Services.
But over the last two years, Daycare Trust has
grown increasingly concerned that some local
authorities are not fulfilling the obligations outlined
in Section 12 of the Childcare Act 2006 and its
accompanying statutory guidance. We felt that the
type, quality and quantity of non-childcare related
information held by Family Information Services
varied greatly across different English local
authorities. This may be a consequence of the
less specific nature of the English regulations
attached to the Childcare Act 2006. We were also
concerned that a few local authorities had moved
most of their Family Information Service function
into call centres and as a consequence were no
longer providing childcare brokerage, as required
by statutory guidance.
Daycare Trust’s views were corroborated in 2009
and 2010 by the publication of two government
evaluations of Family Information Services
(Department for Children, Schools and Families,
2009; Department for Education, 2010c). The 2009
evaluation indicated that some Family Information
Services did not have the capacity to update their
information as frequently as was needed. The
evaluation also highlighted big variations in the
quality of outreach to disadvantaged groups, as
well as a lack of clarity about childcare brokerage.
The evaluation also highlighted a concern of
Daycare Trust – that there appeared to be less
satisfaction with the quality of non-childcare related
advice and information. Most disturbingly, 41 per
cent of Family Information Service Managers who
participated in the evaluation reported that they did
not think that their local authority was meeting the
obligations outlined in the Childcare Act 2006 and
the associated guidance (Department for Children,
Schools and Families, 2009). In 2010, this figure
was 31 per cent (Department of Education, 2010c),
which although a reduction from 2009, is still high –
given that Section 12 of the Childcare Act is a legal
obligation.
In mid-2011 Daycare Trust merged with the
National Association of Family Information Services
(NAFIS), the membership organisation for Family
Information Services. Given the findings of the 2009
and 2010 evaluations, as well as reports about
changes to Family Information Services as a result
of the local authority funding cuts, we decided to
carry out our own research to map the work carried
out by Family Information Services.
05

7. Responses were received from 118 Family
Information Services in England and Wales,
representing 120 local authorities. The overall
survey response rate was 68 per cent and every
English government region had a response rate in
excess of 60 per cent, as did Wales. However,
some local authorities that have previously
amalgamated their Family Information Services
into call centres failed to respond to our survey.
This group of local authorities are, therefore,
under-represented in our analysis.
We also drew on previous research by Daycare
Trust about holiday childcare. The Holiday
Childcare Costs Survey is an annual survey sent to
all Family Information Services in Britain (Daycare
Trust, 2011).
In 2011 we asked about the range of non-childcare
cultural and sporting activities to which Family
Information Services referred parents. The aim of
this question was to test the extent to which Family
Information Services held information on these
activities.
Our research has focused on Family Information
Services in England and Wales. We decided not to
extend our survey to Scotland, because of the
different legislative framework. However, all
Scottish local authorities run Children’s Information
Services, fulfilling a similar role to Family
Information Services in England and Wales. Many
of the trends and issues identified in this report are
equally applicable to Scotland and at a later stage
we may undertake similar research in Scotland.
Daycare Trust’s survey
Our research aimed to provide a comprehensive picture of the work undertaken by
Family Information Services across England and Wales. We also wanted to gather
evidence about the impact of spending cuts on Family Information Services. In
September 2011 a survey was sent out to every Family Information Service Manager
in England and Wales. The survey asked questions about:
The size of the Family Information Service in relation to the numbers of staff it
employed
How the service was placed within the local authority structure
How calls reached the Family Information Service
The number of enquiries received in a typical month
The type of outreach undertaken by the Family Information Service
The extent of childcare brokerage services
Specific work with families of disabled children
Financial and structural changes brought about by local government funding
cuts, as well as the impact of these changes
Perceptions about whether the Family Information Service was meeting the
obligations of Section 12 or Section 27 of the Childcare Act 2006.
06

8. Family Information Services provide a wide range
of information and advice to families, through a
website presence and by answering email,
telephone and face-to-face enquiries. Overall, our
survey indicated that Family Information Services
dealt with an average of 391 enquiries per month,
or nearly 20 per working day. This is a little less
than the number of enquiries indicated in the
Department for Education’s 2010 evaluation
(Department for Education, 2010c). However, the
volume of enquiries varied greatly between Family
Information Services, with a range of 30 to 2,000
enquiries per month.
About half of all enquiries to Family Information
Services are telephone enquiries, with the
remainder email and face-to-face enquiries.
However, there were significant numbers of Family
Information Services who had little face-to-face
contact with their clients, with 20 per cent of
respondents stating that they dealt with fewer than
ten face-to-face enquiries every month.
Most Family Information Services also monitor
website hits and their data shows that they receive
a large volume of these every month, with the
numbers of website hits far exceeding telephone
enquiries. In England, many parents who go on to
their local Family Information Service website do
so to consult the online Family Services Directory.
While some local authorities will continue to update
their directories, Daycare Trust is concerned that
funding cuts and structural changes will mean that
some of the information held in Family Information
Directories will not be updated.
Daycare Trust’s Holiday Childcare Costs Survey
2011 asked Family Information Services if they
referred parents and children to local sporting or
cultural activities that run over the school holidays.
These activities – for example, football coaching
sessions, drama clubs, school holiday music
courses are often used as surrogate forms of
childcare by working parents.
Many of the best Family Information Services have
included these activities in their Family Information
Directories. While the vast majority of Family
Information Services held information about these
activities, the survey indicated that 5 per cent of
Family Information Services did not do so.
The 2009 evaluation of Family Information
Services indicated that many parents value
childcare brokerage – extra assistance to families
who have difficulties finding suitable childcare
(Department for Children, Schools and Families,
2009). As statutory guidance requires English local
authorities to provide childcare brokerage, we
decided to ask Family Information Services about
this form of extra support. Figure 1 presents the
results with over half (51 per cent) of all Family
Information Services offering childcare brokerage
to all families that need it.
Overall, our survey
indicated that Family
Information Services
dealt with average of
391 enquiries per
month, or nearly 20 per
working day
Findings: Service Provision
07

9. Just over one-third of local authorities offered
childcare brokerage to targeted groups of parents.
Many local authorities used the statutory guidance
on childcare sufficiency (Department for Children,
Schools and Families, 2010) to identify the groups
that they prioritised for childcare brokerage, ie
working parents, those studying with the intention
of returning to work and parents of disabled
children. A significant number of local authorities
prioritised families who were new to the area,
families with limited fluency in English and teenage
parents. Others were informed by their local
conditions in deciding which groups to prioritise, for
example prioritising military families.
Some 12 per cent of local authorities did not offer a
childcare brokerage service. These were largely
local authorities in Wales, where statutory guidance
does not require a local authority to offer this kind
of help. However, we were concerned that five
English local authorities stated that they were not
offering childcare brokerage, despite this obligation
being outlined in statutory guidance. All five of
these local authorities have large populations of
disadvantaged families and high numbers of people
with limited fluency in English – groups who may
need extra help finding childcare. Daycare Trust
urges all English local authorities to provide this
essential service for families.
Source: Daycare Trust Survey of Family Information Services 2011
51.2%
34.4%
12.4%
Figure 1: Do you provide childcare
brokerage?
To all parents that need it
To some parents
No
08

10. Marketing and outreach
Services. Our survey indicated that many Family
Information Services were engaged in successful
and imaginative work to get to families that most
need information and advice. Other Family
Information Services did not undertake outreach
work themselves; rather this is delivered by
outreach officers based in children’s centres.
Having a shop front in a high street or location visited by a large number of parents. The
evaluation undertaken in 2009 for the Department of Education suggested that over half of
Family Information Services had a shop front or drop-in facility. Our research suggests that
many local authorities have recently closed these public access points.
Attending major local events such as county fairs.
Visiting supermarkets on Saturdays to enable contact with working parents.
Visiting primary schools when parents’ evenings are held.
Visiting community organisations to deliver advice.
Joint work with health visitors, with Family Information Service staff attending health visitor
clinics and putting stickers about its service in the parent-held baby development book.
Joint work with children’s centre staff. Some Family Information services have staff who are
based in children’s centres or who conduct advice sessions from them. Many Family
Information Services also train children’s centre staff to deliver information themselves.
Joint work with Jobcentre Plus. Some Family Information Services run advice sessions in
Jobcentre Plus offices.
Running training and hosting visits from other organisations that work with children and
parents.
Developing a Parent Champions project. Here parents who have an experience of formal
childcare are recruited to engage with other parents and channel them towards taster
sessions in nurseries. Parent Champions also direct other parents back to Family
Information Services for advice. That parents place greater weight on informal face-to-face
advice is the observation that underpins the work of Parent Champions. Daycare Trust has
worked with a number of local authorities to set up Parent Champions schemes and is
currently running a number of pathfinder projects in advance of creating a national network.
Using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to get information to families.
Our survey indicated that Family Information Service marketing
and outreach includes:
It is essential that information about childcare and
other services for parents and children gets to
those families who need it. To meet this aim,
Family Information Services need to market
themselves as a source of information. They also
need to reach out to those sections of society that
may be least likely to be able to find out about
services and sources of support. We decided that
it was important to look at the marketing and
outreach services offered by Family Information
09

11. We asked Family information Services about the
range of marketing and outreach services
undertaken by their staff (Figure 2). While the vast
majority did undertake a significant amount of
outreach, or worked in partnership with other
professionals who undertook outreach, we were
concerned to note that five per cent of Family
Information Services undertook no outreach at all.
We believe that outreach is a core component of a
high quality Family information Service and must
be supported.
Daycare Trust’s survey also drew attention to
another development that will affect marketing and
outreach – that some Family Information Services
are in the process of changing the names of their
services. We have Family Information Services,
Workforce Information Services, Childcare
Information, Children’s Information Services and
Children and Young People’s Information Services
used as brand names for the Family Information
Service function. The move from a single brand
name has the potential to be confusing to families.
Given that between nine and eleven per cent of
the population move home every year,1 many of
them families with young children who move across
local authority boundaries, it is important for Family
Information Services to maintain a clear brand
identity.
1 Champion, T. (2005) ‘Population Movement Within the UK’ in Office for
National Statistics (ONS) (ed) Focus on People and Migration, London: ONS
“We offer outreach in all local job centres, produce a quarterly magazine for families and
provide briefings to staff within the council and to partners. We also place adverts in
relevant local publications and have a schedule of press releases. We have a selection of
promotional items - sometimes developed in partnership with another service, for example,
disability services, for a particular customer group. The Family Information Service also
participates in wider events and activities, like a financial inclusion roadshow, or parenting
events. Our outreach activities can change from year to year depending on priorities
identified.” Comment from Daycare Trust’s Survey of Family Information Services, 2011
Source: Daycare Trust Survey of Family Information Services, 2011
94.6%
76.1%
71.7%
31.9%
5.3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
We distribute
printedinformation
describing our
service
We run advice
sessions in schools
and chidlren's
centres
We run advice
sessions in
community
organisations
We hold open days
and host visits
We do not
undertake outreach
and marketing
Figure 2: Marketing and outreach
undertaken by Family Information
Services
10

12. Much research has shown that the parents of
disabled children find it particularly difficult to find
suitable childcare (Daycare Trust, 2007; KIDS,
2011; NatCen, 2005). In recognition of this issue,
the Childcare Act 2006 obliges local authorities to
consider the needs of disabled children and their
parents. In England, the Government also funded
the Disabled Children’s Access to Childcare
(DCATCH) initiative. This pilot, running between
2008 and 2011 in ten local authorities, aimed to
improve the range and quality of childcare for
families of disabled children, and involve families in
shaping childcare services. Childcare brokerage –
giving advice to parents, providing support to
childcare providers and facilitating dialogue
between the two – was a core component of
Source: Daycare Trust Survey of Family Information Services, 2011
DCATCH, with some of the participating local
authorities employing specialist information and
brokerage officers within Family Information
Services.
75.9% 75.9% 74.1%
60.3%
40.5%
23.3%
18.1%
6.9% 4.3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
We call
childcare
providers on
behalf of
families
We advise
parents of
disabled
children
about
sources of
finance to
pay for
childcare
We provide a
list of
settings with
experience
of caring for
disabled
children
We work
with other
professionals
to advise
them about
childcare
issues for
disabled
children
We advise
settings
about
additional
training or
funding for
equipment
and
adaptions
We take
parents to
visit settings
We have a
dedicated
worker for
families with
disabled
children
We arrange
children's
transport to
childcare
settings
None of
these
Figure 3: Specific services to parents of
disabled children
Work with families with disabled children
11

13. As a consequence of equalities legislation,
Childcare Act 2006 obligations and DCATCH,
many Family Information Services now target this
group of families for specific support, with Figure 3
presenting our survey data on the main
components of this work. We were surprised that
24 per cent of Family Information Services did not
give parents information about sources of financial
support to pay for childcare. This information, for
parents of all children, not just those with
disabilities, is an essential form of help.
Daycare Trust’s survey also highlighted other work
undertaken on behalf of disabled children and their
families. Some Family Information Services held
the local authority Disabled Children Register (it is
a duty under the Children Act 1989 for councils to
hold a database of children aged up to 18 with a
disability). A number of them also arranged short
breaks and transport for families. Some Family
Information Services also held clinics at special
schools and worked with special needs teams in
schools and in the local authority.
Some survey respondents indicated that they had
undertaken little targeted work with this group of
families. For some this was an omission, but for six
Family Information Services the lack of targeted
work was a consequence of the belief that there
were high levels of inclusivity in childcare and
school settings. One survey respondent stated:
Such views raise broader issues about generic
work versus specialisms within Family Information
Services. There are advantages and
disadvantages of having specialist Family
Information Service staff for particular groups of
families such as those with disabled children. An
advantage is that the provision of information,
advice and brokerage for these families often
requires very specific skills and knowledge
(Department for Education, 2010a). A major
disadvantage is that generic staff may not take full
responsibility for updating their own skills and
knowledge on support for disabled children and
their families. It can often be challenging to strike
the balance between generic work and
specialisms.
“We give parents of disabled children
exactly the same choice of provider as
any other parent. We will liaise with
providers, however, we always advise
that the best person to speak to a
setting about a child's individual needs
is the parent. We actively discourage
the practice of having separate
workers/teams/lists for disabled
children. Essentially we will tailor a
package of support based on the need
of each different family with inclusion at
the forefront of our work.”
12

14. Previous Government surveys and evaluations of
Family Information Services highlight high levels of
parental satisfaction, with 84 per cent of users of
Family Information Services stating they were
helpful in the 2009 Childcare and Early Years
Survey of Parents (Department for Education,
2010a). But customer satisfaction will only be
maintained by setting in place systems to maintain
or increase the quality of services. Some local
authorities encourage Family Information Services
staff to study for vocational qualifications, for
example Level 3 or Level 4 NVQs in advice and
guidance. Having qualified staff seems a
particularly important factor in determining the
quality of services to families of disabled children
(Natcen, 2005). Many local authorities also work
towards quality standards such as the Families
First Award, a scheme developed by NAFIS in
conjunction with Family Information Service
practitioners and the Department for Education.
Our survey indicated that nearly half (47 per cent)
of Family Information Services had received this
award or were working towards it.
Statutory guidance also provides a marker of
quality as it gives a baseline indicator of the
assistance that Family Information Services are
expected to provide. But the 2009 evaluation of
these services suggested that 41 per cent of
managers of Family Information Services in
England did not believe that their organisation met
the requirements of the legislation and statutory
guidance, although this figure dropped to 31 per
cent in 2010 (Department for Children, Schools
and Families, 2009; Department for Education
2010). We asked a similar question to the
managers of Family Information Service with 20
per cent of them stating that they were not fully
compliant with legislation and guidance and a
further 12 per cent of Family Information Services
declining to answer this question (Figure 4). Many
of those Family Information Services whose
managers felt that they were not compliant were
those who were not undertaking childcare
brokerage or those that had recently merged a
large component of the Family Information Service
into a call centre.
66%
20%
0.50%
1% 12%
Figure 4: FIS Managers perceptions
about compliance with Childcare Act
2006 information duties
Fully compliant
Partly compliant
Not compliant
Don't know
Declined to answer
Source : Daycare Trust Survey of Family Information Services, 2011
Quality of services
13

15. Daycare Trust’s survey also looked at staffing
levels within Family Information Services and how
they fitted into council structures. The 2009
evaluation of Family Information Services noted
that staff numbers within Family Information
Service teams varied considerably – between one
and 23 staff (Department for Children Schools
and Families, 2009). This evaluation also
suggested that 45 per cent per cent of Family
Information Services employed between six and
ten staff. The 2010 evaluation from the
Department for Education indicated that the
average size of a Family Information Service was
6.8 staff (Department for Education, 2010c). It is
significant to note that the 2010 evaluation was
undertaken before some local authorities were
required to make spending cuts.
Our research clearly shows that Family
Information Services are getting smaller in
relation to the number of staff that they employ.
Daycare Trust’s survey indicates that the average
size of a Family Information Service is now 4.8
staff. Moreover 72 per cent of Family Information
Services now employ five staff or fewer (Figure 5).
There are now six local authorities whose Family
Information Service function is carried out by just
one member of staff or fewer. All of these local
authorities covered a significant area and the
largest of them had a population in excess of
250,000. All but one of these six had retained a
discrete Family Information Service and not
merged this work into a call centre. While we
believe Family Information Services should not be
immune to cuts when there are so many other
important services provided by local authorities,
reducing staff numbers so severely undermines
their ability to provide vital services such as
childcare brokerage.
31%
45.0%
15.0%
8.0%
36.8%
41.9%
10.3%
1.50%
72.0%
19.2%
7.6%
1.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
0-5 staff 5.1 - 10 staff 10.1- 20 staff 20.1 or more
Figure 5: Staff numbers in Family
Information Services in 2009 - 2011
2009
2010
2011
Source: Daycare Trust Survey to Family Information Services, 2011; Department for Children, Schools
and Families, 2009; Department for Education, 2010c
Size and structures
14

16. We also wanted to monitor changes to the ways in
which Family Information Services were organised.
In 2009 almost all Family Information Services
were run as discrete teams located within
Children’s Services Departments, although a few
had outsourced this service (Department for
Children, Schools and Families, 2009). One
northern local authority delivered its Family
Information Service through a call centre at this
time, but had then set up a discrete Family
Information Service when officials realised that the
local authority was not meeting obligations outlined
in legislation and guidance. Today, Family
Information Services are undergoing significant
structural changes as a consequence of local
authority spending cuts and by the end of 2010,
more local authorities had merged their Family
Information Services into call centres. Our survey
suggests by September 2011 at least seven local
authorities, all in England, had merged all of their
Family Information Service function into a call
centre. However, evidence collected by Daycare
Trust and NAFIS suggests that the true figure is
higher than seven when non-respondents to the
survey are taken into account as we are aware of
other local authorities which have moved to a call
centre model. When anticipated future changes are
taken into account, it is clear that in future a far
higher proportion of Family Information Services
will be merged into generic local authority call
centres (Figure 7).
“We have cut one of our outreach
officers….It is hard to see how we
will be able to maintain current
performance levels, and very
doubtful that our Information duty
compliance would not be adversely
impacted were we to take further hits
in subsequent rounds of cuts.“
Comment from Daycare Trust’s
Survey of Family Information
Services, 2011)
15

17. 6% 0% 7%
21% 25%
32%
24%
80%
33%
64%
62%
76%
12%
45%
11%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Changes to
staff numbers
Changes to
budget
Changes to
opening hours
Changes to the
delivery of
outreach
services
Changes to the
delivery of
childcare
brokerage
Figure 6: Recent or planned financial
or operational changes
Reduced
Stayed the same
Increased
Local authority funding cuts have forced many
changes to Family Information Services. These
include budget reductions, changes to the range of
services on offer, staffing changes, as well as
structural changes. Daycare Trust’s survey aimed to
map these changes, as well as analyse the impacts
of them on service delivery. Figure 6 presents data
on financial and operational changes to Family
Information Services. We found that 76 per cent
of Family Information Services had recent or
planned cuts to their budgets, with some
experiencing very significant reductions, with
spending reduced to a third of 2009-2010 budgets
in some local authorities. Some 62 per cent of
Family Information Services had recent or planned
cuts to staffing. Nearly half (45 per cent) had
reduced their outreach services, although this has
been balanced by an increase in outreach in 21 per
cent of Family Information Services.
The impact of spending cuts
Source: Daycare Trust Survey of Family Information Services, 2011
73%
44%
19% 17%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Changes to staff
responsibilities
Merged into
another children's
services team
Merged into a local
authority call centre
Moved to another
local authority
department
FIS combined with
FIS from
neighbouring
authority
Figure 7: Recent and planned
structural changes to Family
Information Services
16

18. Family Information Services were asked about the
impact of these changes on their services. Many of
them highlighted an increase in their
responsibilities, without extra staff or funding.
Some Family Information Services had taken on
the childcare sufficiency duties (another aspect of
the Childcare Act 2006) or had been tasked with
finding places for those additional two year olds
who will soon qualify for free early education.
A number of Family Information Services have
taken on duties that do not directly relate to
childcare or information for parents and children,
for example having to maintain the Common
Assessment Framework database that records
children’s additional social, medical or learning
needs. In many cases, these mergers of teams
seemed to be marriages of convenience rather
than smarter ways of working. Daycare Trust
believes that where mergers are required,
Connexions, Family Information Services and other
information-based services for parents, children
and young people should be brought together
under one roof. Such a move has the potential both
to share best practice and to save money.
Some local authorities have moved their Family
Information Services into sections of Children’s
Services that are implementing the early
intervention programme of work, targeting the most
dysfunctional families. With this have come
changes in the focus of outreach services, with the
focus moving to the most disadvantaged families
and away from working parents.
Spending cuts have forced some local authorities
to review how they deliver outreach services. In
some cases, outreach services have been moved
out of Family Information Services and are solely
delivered by staff based in children’s centres. Many
local authorities have also closed ‘shop front’ public
access points. These changes have often been
accompanied by a re-prioritisation of outreach.
Instead of some targeting of working families for
outreach, in many instances the most
disadvantaged families and areas were now the
primary targets of outreach. Many Family
Information Services also stressed their concerns
about reductions to marketing and outreach and
this was one of the most common concerns
articulated in Daycare Trust’s survey.
“The reduction in staff and budget has
particularly impacted on the volume of
outreach work undertaken. An agreement
was reached to reduce attendance at
children's centres, with low priority centres
not necessarily being visited and others less
frequently. Promotions and marketing has
also reduced due to funding constraints.
The number of staff covering our helpline
over lunch has been reduced.”
“The marketing budget has been cut so we
are unable to produce new leaflets and other
materials. We have lost all dedicated
outreach staff so outreach work has almost
completely stopped. This makes it much
more likely that families which could benefit
from the service will not know about it.
Attendance at events has stopped so there
is no informal face-to-face advice being
delivered.”
Comments from Daycare Trust’s Survey of
Family Information Services, 2011.
17

19. Perhaps the most significant change highlighted in
Daycare Trust’s survey has been the recent or
planned mergers of at least 20 per cent of Family
Information Services into generic local authority call
centres. In a few local authorities this process
seemed to have been a well-planned process. In
some cases the Family Information Services have
been actively involved in this change, designing the
process, drafting scripts and training call centre
workers. At least two local authorities that have
merged the majority of their Family Information
Services into call centres have retained a small
‘second tier’ service to deal with more complex
enquiries and to provide childcare brokerage.
But in most cases, however, the move of Family
Information Services into generic local authority call
centres was met with concerns about the future
quality of the services. In many instances, the
survey highlighted views that marketing, outreach
and childcare brokerage would suffer as a
consequence of this change. Survey respondents
were also concerned that information about
childcare providers and other services and
activities would not be updated.
“There is a radically reduced
service due to start at beginning
of October. Staff moved to call
centre with reduced functions. No
brokerage or outreach any more
and databases moved to different
teams.“
“Calls will be redirected through
call centre, [with a ] heavy
emphasis on web based
information and 'help yourself'
for customers.”
“The Family Information team are based
within the LA's call centre, and in our
recent restructure they have been
reduced to 1.5 staff who are meant to be
call taking only. Through negotiation
that team are continuing to administer
the daily Ofsted import and check
inspection reports but they no longer
have a clear responsibility to administer
the childcare database.”
Comments from Daycare Trust’s Survey
of Family Information Services, 2011.
18

20. Daycare Trust is not anti-reform and we
acknowledge the need for smarter ways of
working. In some local authorities, spending cuts
have forced better ways of working for Family
Information Services, for example merging youth
advice into Family Information Services or
rationalising print production, website design and
outreach services. However we have three major
concerns about the impact of spending cuts on
Family Information Services.
First, we believe that some Family Information
Services have seen such a large reduction in their
budgets that it is now compromising their ability to
deliver a service that conforms to the standards
specified in statutory guidance. Of course, these
services are important not just because they are
described in guidance, but because they are
desperately needed by parents. Too often,
parents are unaware of services to which they are
entitled, and are confused by the plethora of
information which is now available online, but
which can be inaccurate and out of date. In
addition, central government and local authorities
continue to invest significant sums of money in
childcare, early education and other services to
families. Alongside the development of these
services over the last decade has been the
recognition that the provision of information is
essential for ensuring that services are used by
those they are intended for. We believe that
information is a central component of ensuring
value for money in the provision of such services.
The Coalition Government has made clear its wish
to reduce the amount of statutory guidance that
local authorities must follow, and is currently
consulting on reducing the length of the guidance
for the childcare sufficiency duties and provision of
free early education. We urge the Government not
to reduce the statutory guidance in this area as we
believe these survey findings have shown just
how vulnerable these services are to budget cuts,
yet how highly valued they are by families. The
Government has also highlighted its desire to
increase take up of the free early education
entitlement among disadvantaged families. A
robust information strategy – as described by the
statutory guidance relating to Family Information
Services – is the best way for local authorities to
make the progress that the Government desires.
Second, Daycare Trust is concerned about
changes to outreach services away from working
parents and towards the most disadvantaged and
dysfunctional families. The motivation that led to
the passage of the Childcare Act 2006 and its
statutory guidance was to get information about
childcare and sources of financial support to
families. Low income working parents and those
trying to return to the labour market were the prime
targets for this information drive. Of course, the
most disadvantaged and dysfunctional families
need information. But they are often very far from
being ‘job ready’ and usually need a different type
of information and advice that might sometimes be
better delivered by social workers. Daycare Trust
believes that working parents, those studying or
looking for work must remain a prime target of
Family Information Services. This is especially
important in the light of the Government’s
ambitions to reduce the number of families relying
on benefits in order to promote social mobility and
end child poverty. There has been much debate
recently about the model of childcare support in
the new Universal Credit (which will replace tax
credits and benefits from 2013). Daycare Trust
welcomed the commitment of an additional £300m
of funding (on top of the existing budget of around
£2bn) to extend childcare support to parents
working fewer than 16 hours per week. This
change will entitle an additional 80,000 families to
support, many of whom will not have used formal
childcare before and may not know about sources
of financial support. Helping this group of parents
find childcare and apply for financial support is an
essential component of the Government’s welfare
reform programme and needs to be backed up
through the provision of high quality information
about childcare.
Daycare Trust concerns
19

21. Third, Daycare Trust is concerned about the
merger of increasing numbers of Family
Information Services into local authority call
centres. At least 20 per cent of all Family
Information Services have recently made this
change or plan to do so. While a small number of
local authorities have managed this process well,
our research suggests that in most local
authorities the quality of family information will
suffer as a consequence of this move, particularly
if no procedures are put in place to update the
information that is held. Outreach and marketing
are likely to suffer, and information may quickly
become out of date. Daycare Trust also doubts
that generic call centre staff will have the skills to
provide high quality information to the families of
disabled children. The evaluation of the DCATCH
initiative highlighted the need for highly-skilled
staff to work with this group of families (Natcen,
2005). We also believe that local authorities
cannot deliver a childcare brokerage service
through a call centre, as almost all of them limit
the length of time that a telephone helpline
operator can engage with a parent. Childcare
brokerage requires specialist knowledge and a
number of discussions with parents and
sometimes with childcare providers, all of which
may take a period of time.
Daycare Trust believes that merging Family
Information Services into generic call centres is a
short-sighted move and risks undermining high
quality provision. We believe that all local
authorities should maintain a distinct information
and advice service targeting parents and children.
If local authorities wish to route initial calls through
a call centre or rationalise services in other ways,
there must be robust measures put in place to
undertake outreach, update information, and
provide a second tier service to deal with more
complex enquiries and provide brokerage.
20

22. Having children brings new parents into contact
with a whole new range of services and activities
and not every new parent knows about them.
Family Information Services exist to bridge this
knowledge gap. They provide essential information
to parents and their children – about finding
childcare and the financial support to pay for it, as
well as a range of other activities and services for
families. At their best Family Information Services
can support parents back in to work and ensure
that more children take up the provision to which
they are entitled. The roll-out of the free early
education offer for the most deprived two year olds
and changes to childcare support brought about by
the introduction of Universal Credit after 2013 will
result in new information challenges for Family
Information Services, who will have to get
information out to those that will qualify for these
new initiatives.
Daycare Trust’s survey of Family Information
Service has highlighted much good practice. The
best Family Information Services have pioneered
ways of getting information out to parents who, for
example, may not be getting Tax Credit support or
know about childcare vouchers. Many Family
Information Services have played an important
role in improving childcare provision for disabled
children. We also believe that high quality
information, advice and outreach offered by Family
Information Services is of broader importance to
the information advice and guidance sector in the
UK. Many in the housing and welfare rights advice
sectors may have much to learn from the best
Family Information Services.
Alongside much good practice, our research also
highlighted some concerns. One in five managers
of Family Information Service felt that their local
authorities were not fully compliant with
information duties outline in the Childcare Act
2006 and its accompanying statutory guidance.
There has been a considerable reduction in
staffing in most Family Information Services and
76 per cent of Family Information Services have
seen their budgets cut. As a consequence, many
local authorities have reduced or changed the
delivery of their marketing and outreach services
and essential information may not now be getting
out to the families that need it. Daycare Trust is
particularly concerned about the trend to merge
Family Information Services into generic local
authority call centres. We believe that the quality
of family information will suffer as a consequence
of this move and it is almost impossible to deliver a
childcare brokerage service from a call centre.
Conclusions
21

23. Ÿ Local authorities must ensure that they fulfil the
information duties outlined in the Childcare Act
2006 and its accompanying statutory guidance.
This is of particular importance for those local
authorities that have merged their Family Infor-
mation Services into call centres.
ŸCentral government should play a greater role
in supporting good practice in the delivery of
family information. We would like to see central
government hold to account local authorities
that do not fulfil the duties outlined in the
Childcare Act 2006 and its accompanying
guidance.
Ÿ Ofsted should develop a more detailed
schedule for inspecting Family Information
Services when visiting local authorities in
England.
ŸThe Welsh Government should monitor the
quality of Family Information Services in Wales
and review the provision of childcare brokerage
in Wales.
ŸLocal authorities should maintain a distinct and
high quality information and advice service
targeting parents, children and young people,
with a clear and unified brand identity. Where
savings have to be made, Connexions, Family
Information Services and other information-
based services for parents, children and young
people should be brought together under one
roof. Such a move has the potential both to
share best practice and to save money.
Recommendations
22

24. Bibliography
Champion, T. (2005) ‘Population Movement Within the UK’ in Office for National Statistics (ONS) (ed)
Focus on People and Migration, London: ONS
Daycare Trust (2007) Listening to parents of disabled children about childcare, London: Daycare Trust
Daycare Trust (2011) Holiday Childcare Costs Survey, 2011, London: Daycare Trust
Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) (2008) Duty to provide information, advice
and Assistance, London: DCSF
ibid (2009) Family Information Services: evaluation of services provided, London: DCSF
ibid (2010) Securing Sufficient Childcare: Statutory guidance for local authorities in carrying out
their childcare sufficiency duties, London: DCSF
Department for Education (DfE) (2010a) Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2009, London:
ibid (2010b) Disabled Children’s Access to Childcare (DCATCH): a qualitative evaluation,
London: DCSF
ibid (2010c) Family Information Service Survey 2010: assessment of Family Information Service
performance against the information duty in the Childcare Act 2006, London: DfE
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2002) Extended Schools: providing opportunities and
services for all, London, London: DfES
Her Majesty’s Treasury (2004) Choice for parents, the best start for children: a ten year strategy for
childcare, London: HMSO
KIDS (2011) Are cuts to local authority budgets denying families the right to childcare? London: KIDS
with Mencap
National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) (2005) Use of Childcare Among Families with Children
who have Special Educational Needs, London: NatCen
Welsh Assembly Government (2008) Guidance to local authorities – Childcare Act 2006, Cardiff:
Welsh Assembly Government
About Daycare Trust
Set up by a group of parents in 1986, Daycare Trust is the national childcare charity, campaigning for
high quality, accessible, affordable childcare for all and raising the voices of children, parents and
carers. We provide information to parents and providers, undertake research, campaign on childcare
issues and carry out direct work to help parents.
Information and outreach have always been central to our work. Over the last 20 years, Daycare Trust
has worked to develop ways of reaching out to parents who under-utilise childcare and early education,
or find it difficult to access financial support for childcare costs. We have developed the Parent
Champion model of peer-to-peer outreach and are presently running a Department for Education Parent
Champions project that will be extended to 15 local authorities. Earlier in 2011, Daycare Trust merged
with the National Association of Family Information Services (NAFIS), the charity that supports Family
Information Services in Great Britain. One of the core activities of Daycare Trust is running the Families
First Award, a quality standard for Family Information Services.
23

25. Daycare Trust
2nd Floor, Novas Contemporary Urban Centre
73-81 Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 0NQ
Tel: 020 7940 7510 Fax: 020 7940 7515
Copyright © Daycare Trust - 2 December 2011
ISBN: 978-1-907305-03-0
Daycare Trust is a registered charity: 327279 and a company limited by guarantee: 02063604
registered in England and Wales. VAT Registered: 830 9847 06.
All rights reserved © Daycare Trust 2011
24