Admissions and Invoicing

Useful statutory operational guidance for administering Early Years Funding entitlements (universal and extended) with a sample template for invoicing.

Key points for admissions, charges, and invoicing

Government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables, additional hours, or additional services

• Providers can charge for meals, and snacks as part of the funded entitlement place and they can also charge for consumables such as nappies, sun cream, trips, and other services.

These charges must be voluntary for the parent and where parents are unable or unwilling to pay for meals and consumables, providers who choose to offer the funded entitlements are responsible for setting their own policy on how to respond with options including waiving or reducing the costs of meals and snacks, or allowing parents to provide their own.

• Providers must be completely transparent about additional charges, for example, parents opting to purchase additional services;
• Providers should ensure that parents have fair access to a funded place that must be delivered free of charge;
• Providers should have clear admissions criteria;
• Providers must ensure that invoices and receipts are clear, transparent, and itemised, allowing parents to see that they have received their child’s funded entitlement completely free of charge, and to understand fees paid for additional hours or services.

General Admissions / Invoicing Guidance

• Early Years entitlements operational guidance Size: 1,585 KB File format: pdf

Access to free places

Private, voluntary, and independent providers are free to set their own criteria for the admission of children, providing they comply with relevant equalities and non-discriminatory legislation.

However, all parents should have the same rights to access a funded entitlement place, regardless of whether they choose to pay for additional hours of provision, optional activities, or meals. Additionally, parents should not have to reserve a place each term.

Providers should ensure that their admissions information is clear and accessible for parents, for example, by publishing the number of standalone 15 and 30 hours places they offer to enable parents to make an informed decision on where to access their funded entitlement. Providers should ensure that they are completely clear and transparent about which hours/sessions can be taken as funded provision and this should be consistent for all parents taking up funded hours. Providers should also ensure they have a clear invoicing structure in place for parents.

Universal funding entitlement is up to 15 hours per week (570 hours per year)

Extended funding entitlement is an additional 15 hours increasing the total to up to 30 hours per week (1140 hours per year) where eligible.

Funded two’s entitlement is up to 15 hours (570 hours per year)

Oversubscription

Where more applications for funded two, three, and four-year-olds who meet the eligibility criteria are received than places are available, places should be allocated in accordance with over-subscription criteria:

Providers must clearly state oversubscription criteria and ensure it is fair and transparent

Lunch

Children should be able to take up their funded hours as part of continuous provision and providers should avoid artificial breaks in the day wherever possible. For example, the lunch hour/session should form part of the funded provision where the child is attending a morning and afternoon session. Providers may wish to offer additional hours around the funded hours.

Providers can charge for meals and snacks as part of their delivery of the funded entitlement as long as parents are not required to pay as a condition of taking up their child’s funded place. Providers may give parents other options including waiving or reducing the cost of meals and snacks or allowing parents to bring in a packed lunch.

Written agreements and Invoicing

Providers should have a written agreement with all parents that take up a funded entitlement place

All Cambridgeshire settings are advised to use the Cambridgeshire parent/carer declaration form (from the Early Years Funding team) to claim funded hours.

Providers may choose to have a separate agreement for those parents who also choose to pay for additional hours and/or optional activities.

Invoices should clearly set out charges and funded entitlement for parents (please refer the to sample invoice). Funded entitlement hours should be deducted from the total hours.

Deposits

Providers can charge a refundable deposit to parents accessing funded entitlements for two, three, and four-year-olds, for both the universal and extended offer. The purpose of the deposit is to give providers certainty that a parent will take up the place. A reasonable timescale should be determined and communicated to parents for refunding the deposit once the child is in attendance at the setting.

Sample Invoice