Home Early Years Funding Expansion of the Early Years Entitlements

Expansion of the Early Years Entitlements

Estimate Payments for the Autumn Term 

If you would like to receive an additional estimate payment to cover the working parents of 9months + over the Autumn Term, please complete this template and return it to earlyyears@nottinghamcity.gov.uk no later than Friday 6th September 2024.   

With these children not being included in your current Autumn Term Estimate Payments, and in response to calls from the sector to support business sustainability during this first term, this one-off estimate payment will be paid at the end of October 2024 (taking into account the additional NCC payment process authorisation timescales which can vary) and will be for this new cohort of children only.  This payment will be 75% of what the funded hours would be for the Autumn Term and payment for the actual hours of attendance for these children will be reconciled as part of your normal Balance Payment on 15th December 2024.  Please remember, that as per usual procedure, if your take up is less than your estimate payment you may be invoiced at the end of the term.  These children will then be included in your estimate payments going forward into the Spring Term 2025, as a seamless inclusion of this expanding entitlement into our existing funding processes. 

In the Spring Budget announcement in March 2023, the Chancellor announced some large-scale, transformative reforms to childcare with a range of measures designed to support early education and help parents with childcare so they can return to work more easily.  By 2027-2028, this will represent the single biggest investment in early education and childcare in England ever.

The early years entitlements aspects of these reforms are being phased in to allow providers time to prepare.  The key headlines around the expansion of the existing entitlements are;

  • From April 2024, working parents of 2 year olds will be able to access 15 hours childcare
  • From September 2024, 15 hours childcare will be extended to all children from the age of 9 months and national wraparound support begins over 2 academic years to enable schools and local areas to set up wraparound childcare provision either side of the school day, so that parents of school-age children can access childcare in their local area from 8am – 6pm, with the expectation that by September 2026, most primary schools will be able to offer their own before and after school care.
  • From September 2025, introduction of 30 hours for all working parents of children from 9 months to primary school age.

There are lots of things Providers can be undertaking in preparation for the expansion in the early years entitlements:

  • Work with your families to get an idea of potential demand
  • Keep an eye out for Childcare Sufficiency Assessment updates and supply and demand data in your local area
  • Identify how many staff you will need to meet local demand and consider your plan for recruiting (Don't forget to list your job adverts for free as part of the 'Do Something Big' Campaign)
  • Begin to upskill your existing workforce to be ready to support new staff.  Our latest CPD opportunities can be found here.
  • Identify barriers in expansion for your provision and look for potential solutions and who can help, do speak to your EYFS Support Worker in the Early Years Team if you need support with this
  • Look at the Childcare Works resources available
  • Keep up to date with the Local Authority's plans and how they can help
  • Share information about your expansion plans with existing and potential families, also signposting them to the Childcare Choices website.

Checking Eligibility Codes for Working Parents of 9+ months

With parents now being able to apply for eligibility codes for the expanding early years entitlement for Working Parents of 9 months + , your provision may be receiving these eligibility codes for you to verify.  The portal is set- up for you to be able to check these codes as you do with all other working parent codes,  in order for them to be verified before offering a funded place. If you have any issues, please email earlyyears@nottinghamcity.gov.uk 

Childcare Works HUB to support Providers

Childcare Works are supporting Providers to deliver the early years entitlements expansion and will be listening to what providers need, creating resources, tools and guidance in response.

These completed resources will be hosted in the HUB; a one-stop shop for all roll-out resources including good practice guidance, case studies, upcoming events and more to support providers.

Find out more at https://childcareworks.org.uk/

The latest information may also be of help:

Information for parents/carers about the expanding entitlements can also be found on ASKLiON.

You can also check out https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/upcoming-changes-to-childcare-support/ for the latest information from the government on the changes to this childcare support.

 

In December 2023, the Early Years Team held sector wide briefings focusing on the Working Parents of 2 Year Olds early years entitlement that will come into force on 1st April 2024.  A copy of this briefing can be found here

Previous Presentations and Frequently Asked Questions

The latest Childcare Choices: Partner Communication Toolkit (published April 2024), includes information on existing and expanding early years entitlements and key messages for promoting the early years entitlements to parents.  The government have also produced this leaflet on support for parents to help with the cost of childcare.