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Please be reminded that the provider portal will be open from 2 January 2023 - 22 January 2023 for the submission of Jan / Feb Actuals.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The portal will be closed for one day only on 11 January 2023 for important upgrades to take place.
Early Years Census - 19 January 2023:
It is extremely important that all children attending your provision for a funded place are included on the Jan / Feb 2023 Actuals submission. The Department for Education (DfE) allocates funding to local authorities for the early years’ entitlements based upon the information submitted by providers via the provider portal at this point in the year. This is the only funding that the local authority will have available to make payments for the forthcoming year. The local authority cannot ask for additional funding from the DfE if more is required during each term eg following providers missed funding claims.
Your submission must reflect the actual attendance of all funded children, their hours and weeks of attendance. It is essential that the ‘present during census box’ on the funding details tab is ticked for those children registered with you during the week commencing 16 January 2023 and that all children no longer in attendance are deleted from your ‘Actuals’ screen.
Please allow yourself plenty of time to input your information and do not leave it until the last minute in case you encounter any problems.
Once all the information has been submitted, please remember to click ‘Send Claim’. You will see a green tick when your claim has been submitted.
The SchoolsNet - Funding and contracts tile will take you to YouTube videos and mini guides which are available to support providers with any funding submission queries. The ‘Actual headcount claims’ videos and mini guides includes step-by-step instructions to help with your Jan / Feb Actuals submission.
Date for your diary!
The Early Years Census 2023
Please note: Thursday 19th January 2023 is Census day
Every funded PVI EY setting in England is required to provide their Local Authority with their EY Census data on this date.
Further guidance to follow later in the Autumn Term - DFE guidance can be viewed here:
EY Census 2023 - DFE Guidance
New applications:
Please be reminded where parents have not applied for a 30-hours code before the 31 December 2022 deadline, they will not be able to access the extended entitlement for the spring term 2023. However, they will still be able to access the 15 hours per week universal funding.
Please note: It is imperative that providers check that all codes (for both new and existing parents) are valid on the provider portal before offering a place to the child. Failure to do so may result in providers meeting this cost, as parents should not be charged for something they have previously been told will be delivered for free.
The link below will take you to the newly created YouTube video which offers guidance on how to Check a 30-hour code and determine eligibility.
Reconfirmation of codes:
As you will be aware, parents need to reconfirm their eligibility code approximately every three months. Although it is the responsibility of the parents to reconfirm by the end date of the code, providers also have a responsibility to notify parents if they have fallen out of eligibility and encourage them to access their childcare account as a matter of urgency. Therefore, it is in the provider’s interest to encourage parents to regularly check their government gateway account to ensure they are aware of their reconfirmation deadlines. It is important parents DO NOT miss reconfirmation deadlines as they may lose their funding for the term.
If a parent has questions about their application or difficulties with applying or reconfirming their code, they will need to contact the HMRC helpline on telephone: 0300 123 4097.
Grace Periods:
Providers will be aware of the grace period dates for each parent and should share these with parents who experience a change in eligibility status. Please be reminded to check eligibility dates carefully before agreeing a start date with parents.
We continue to receive e-mails from providers querying why codes are showing in their ‘Grace’ period but can be submitted on to the portal.
In this scenario, it appears providers are accessing information on the Summary page to ascertain the status of a 30-hour code.
The accuracy of the information held on the Summary page is dependent upon when an eligibility check was last undertaken. In order to access live data, which is in line with the information the parent has access to, either:
- an eligibility check should be undertaken which links to the live data held with the Department for Education (DfE) or
- the blue ‘30 Hours Free Childcare’ button is submitted via ‘Actuals’ This will then update to the most recent status of the child’s code.
Providers are also reminded that parents are unable to commence a 30-hours funded placement during a grace period. More information about grace periods can be found in the Statutory Guidance.
The early years finance team has highlighted during compliance checks that not all providers are following the procedure for recording child absences.
All providers must keep a record of the dates and reasons for children’s absences for safeguarding and funding purposes. These should be recorded on the Absence Log and signed by the parent/carer upon the child’s return.
Please can we remind providers of the following points, as per your signed Agreement:
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14.9 Providers will not be penalised for children’s absences if a record of the absence has been completed and signed by the child’s parent. Failure to complete or maintain accurate absence records may result in funding being reclaimed.
Providers should follow up absences of funded children, referring to local safeguarding procedures as necessary and retain records of attempts to contact parents during periods of absence.
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14.10 Providers should monitor children’s attendance and absences and identify patterns of missed sessions each term. Providers should discuss identified patterns of missed sessions with parents to determine the reasons, retaining records of the discussion outcome and amending funding claims as necessary.
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14.11 Providers must notify the Early Years Funding Team of a child’s absence of four weeks or more and the reason for the absence. The local authority will inform the Provider if funding can be claimed for the period or if the place should be withdrawn.
Link to Guidance and Absence Log Template:
short-term-closures-and-child-absences.docx (live.com)
Where changes occur within the setting for example, change to the provision name, childminder name, address, telephone number, email address, business structure and changes to committee members and / or manager. Please remember to notify Ofsted and the local authority using the following e-mail addresses as any of these changes may require a new Provider Agreement:
Ofsted: enquiries@Ofsted.gov.uk
cs.enquiries.childminders@derbyshire.gov.uk
cs.enquiries.groupcare@derbyshire.gov.uk
cs.enquiries.schools@derbyshire.gov.uk
Please also remember to update your setting's details with the Families Information Service, telephone: email: info.fis@derbyshire.gov.uk
Local authority notification:
Due to the current rise in covid cases, should you need to close your provision due to covid, please ensure you notify the funding team via the relevant in-box:
cs.enquiries.childminders@derbyshire.gov.uk or cs.enquiries.groupcare@derbyshire.gov.uk or cs.enquiries.schools@derbyshire.gov.uk along with the quality team via: CS.EYS@derbyshire.gov.uk
Ofsted notification:
For closures of three days or more please be reminded that there is also a requirement to notify Ofsted as per the guidance set out in the following document.
Actions for early years and childcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic - February 2022 (pg18/19)
Actions for early years and childcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic (publishing.service.gov.uk)
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If you are a contracted provider and would like to receive text reminders when the provider portal is open / closed, please ensure you notify us (and Ofsted of course!) of your mobile number.
Where the local authority has received a mobile number from your setting, this will automatically be included in the ‘Texting’ notifications.
Please let us know via email if you wish to be removed from this Service.
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Please remember to access the SchoolsNet - Funding and contracts tile where you will find a suite of step-by-step guidance and video materials to help you submit information on to the provider portal. We hope you find them useful.
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