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Government Childcare Funding Information
2 year Passport funding
This funding is 15 hours of childcare across 38 weeks of term time. Not all 2-year-olds are eligible for this funding, parents must receive a ‘2 year passport’ from the local authority to be able to access this.
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What you need to know:
• Parents are receiving certain benefits
• The child has Disability Living Allowance or Special Education Needs (SEND)
• The child has a kinship or guardianship order
• The child is being looked after by a local authority.
· Meal charges are - £2.50 per meal (Lunch/Tea), £1.00 per snack.
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Completely free sessions are available but are subject to availability.
Universal funding for 3- & 4-year-olds
This funding is 15 hours of childcare across 38 weeks of term time. All parents of 3- and 4-year-olds can access this scheme.
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What you need to know:
• All 3- and 4-year-olds qualify for this scheme.
• We can ‘stretch’ these hours over the whole year for more flexibility. This would equate to 12 hours funding over 51 weeks
• We can offer additional, non-funded hours these are £6.50 per hour
· Meal charges are - £2.50 per meal (Lunch/Tea), £1.00 per snack.
Completely free sessions are available but are subject to availability.
Working family funded childcare
This scheme is for qualifying working parents. The funded hours are provided across 38 weeks during term time and, if you’re living with your partner you’ll need to apply together.
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Parents:
• Should be working at least 16 hours a week
• Can be on sick leave or parental leave
• Must each earn less than £100,000 a year
• Might still be eligible while claiming benefits.
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There are some other specific things that can affect your eligibility, like your immigration status, where your child lives, and your child’s exact age. You can read more about this on the government website: childcarechoices.gov.uk/
If you are eligible for 30 hours
· We can ‘stretch’ these hours so that you are eligible for 22 hours per week over 51 weeks.
· We can offer your child more than their funded hours per week, if you need them. These additional hours are paid for and are referred to as non-funded hours. Each additional Hour costs £6.50
· Meal charges are - £2.50 per meal (Lunch/Tea) and £1.00 per snack
When to apply
You might be wondering when your child will be able to use the 15 and 30 hours of government funding. It’s all down to when their birthday falls, so make sure you plan ahead. For Working Family Funding, you’ll need to apply online for an eligibility code. Head over to this website to see if you’re eligible .
https://beststartinlife.gov.uk/eligibility-checker/
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You should be applying for your eligibility code for funding 3 months before you wish to access it. But remember you cannot apply for your code and use it in the same term.
Once you have received the code you must every three months, sign into your HMRC childcare account to reconfirm your working family funding eligibility code. If you forget, you might lose your funding for the following term
Tax free childcare
Tax-Free Childcare can help with the cost of paying for childcare.
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You’ll need to set up a childcare account, which both you and the government will pay into. You can then use this money to pay your childcare provider.
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For every £8 you pay into the account, the government will top it up by £2.
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The total top up you can get for each child is £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year). This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if your child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year).
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You’ll usually need to be working and your child must be 11 or younger (16 or younger if they’re disabled).
How it works
Once you have a childcare account, you can pay money into your account by Direct Debit, standing order or bank transfer.
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Your payment will usually appear in your childcare account within one working day. The government’s payment is added at the same time. You can then pay your childcare provider.
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Your childcare provider must be signed up to the Tax-Free Childcare scheme before you can pay them. Check with your provider that they’re already signed up.
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You must sign in to your childcare account every 3 months to confirm you’re still eligible. If you do not, your Tax-Free Childcare will stop.
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