Useful statutory guidance for administering Early Years Funding entitlements (universal, extended, expanded, and funded two's) and a sample template for invoicing.
Early education and childcare (applies from 1 April 2024).
Key points for admissions
Providers should ensure their admissions information is clear, transparent, and accessible to parents.
Private, voluntary, and independent providers can set their criteria for the admission of children, providing they comply with relevant equalities and non-discriminatory legislation.
All parents should have the same rights to access a funded entitlement place, regardless of whether they opt to pay for additional hours, additional, services, meals, or consumables.
Providers should publish any additional charges for meals/snacks, consumables, additional hours, and additional services and make these easily available to parents to enable parents to make an informed choice of provider. This should be available when a parent first takes up their child’s funded place.
Providers should ensure 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. As far as possible, the pattern of hours should be convenient for parents’ working hours.
Providers should ensure that all parents have fair access to a funded place which must be delivered completely free of charge.
Providers should ensure parents understand which hours/sessions can be taken as fully funded provision.
Key points for charges
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 a funded entitlement place and they can also charge for consumables, such as nappies or sun cream, and services such as trips and specialist tuition.
Providers, who choose to offer the funded entitlements, are responsible for setting their policy on providing parents with options for alternatives to additional charges, including allowing parents to supply their child's meals or nappies or waiving or reducing the cost of meals and snacks.
Key points for invoicing
When invoicing, please promote tax-free childcare and universal credit as ways parents can pay the invoice.
Tax-Free Childcare
Parents can get up to £500 every three months (up to £2,000 a year) for each child under 11 to help with childcare costs. This goes up to £1,000 every three months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year). Parents set up an online childcare account for each child and every £8 paid into the account, the government pays in £2 to use to pay providers. Parents can get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as 15 or 30 hours (if eligible) of Early Years Funding. Further information for parents can be found at Tax-Free Childcare - GOV.UK
Providers can set up an account to receive Tax-Free Childcare via Sign up to Tax-Free Childcare if you’re a childcare provider - GOV.UK
Universal Credit
Parents can get up to 85% of childcare costs paid back to them if they are in receipt of certain benefits and are in paid work or starting a job in the next month. Parents normally need to pay for the childcare first but might be able to get help if they cannot afford to pay the upfront cost. Further information is available at Universal Credit childcare costs - GOV.UK
Sample invoice
A sample compliant invoice* is available on the Early Years Funding webpage. *Size: 145 KB File format: pdf
Funded entitlements
Universal funding entitlement for three- and four-year-olds is up to 15 hours per week (570 hours per year).
Extended funding entitlement for three- and four-year-olds is an additional 15 hours increasing the total to up to 30 hours per week (1,140 hours per year) where eligible.
Targeted funding entitlement for two-year-olds receiving some additional forms of government support, or currently or previously in local authority care is up to 15 hours per week (570 hours per year).
Funded two's entitlement for two-year-olds from working families is up to 15 hours per week (570 hours per year) where eligible.
From September 2024, the expanded funding entitlement will become available from nine months old for working families for up to 15 hours per week (570 hours per year) where eligible.
From September 2025, the expanded funding entitlement for working families will increase to 30 hours per week (1,140 hours per year) where eligible.
Oversubscription
Where more applications for funded entitlement places are received than places are available, places should be allocated in accordance with oversubscription criteria. Providers must clearly state oversubscription criteria and ensure it is fair, clear, and transparent.
Lunch
Children should be able to take up their funded hours in continuous blocks 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 can charge for meals and snacks provided this is not a condition of accessing their child’s funded place. Providers must set their policy on providing parents with options for alternatives including allowing parents to supply their meals or waiving or reducing the cost of meals and snacks.
Written agreements
Providers should have a written agreement with all parents taking up a funded entitlement place.
All Cambridgeshire settings must use the Parent Carer Declaration 2024-2025* form to claim funded hours. *Size: 332 KB File format: docx
Providers may choose to have a separate agreement for those parents who also opt to pay for additional hours, meals/snacks, consumables, and additional services.
Deposits
Providers can charge a refundable deposit to parents accessing funded entitlements. 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 starts the setting. This should not exceed the first term in which a child takes up their place.
Registration fee
Providers must not require parents to pay a registration fee as a condition of taking up their child’s funded place.
'Top-up' fees
Providers must not charge parents top-up fees – any difference between a provider’s normal charge to parents and the funding received from the local authority to deliver funded places.
