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From September 2024, eligible families with children aged 9 months or over will be able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week over 38 weeks of the year or fewer hours per week if a stretched offer is available.
To be eligible, children will need to have reached 9 months old on or before the 31 August 2024, and their parents will need to have successfully applied for, and be in receipt of, a code via HMRC by the 31 August 2024 deadline to be eligible to access their funded childcare from September 2024.
The Department for Education will be reporting on code validations and expect all providers to have validated their codes before the end of the summer term in preparation for September.
We ask that you promote this next stage with your families, so parents are aware of their potential eligibility for this funding, and can apply within the required timescales. Applications can be made online at Apply for free childcare if you're working - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Childcare Choices website has a Frequently Asked Questions document which you may find useful to support parents: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/guidance-and-resources/guidance-zone. Alternatively, please direct them to the Families Information Service website where help with childcare costs are detailed: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/FIS
Where providers are registered to deliver places for children under the age of 2-years-old and provided the family has an eligible working family 11-digit HMRC code, the submission of the funded hours will be included under the ‘9 months – 2-year-old’ headcount.
Parents who already have a Tax-Free Childcare account, and a reconfirmation window which opens after the 09 June 2024, should have received a temporary code from HMRC. If they haven’t received their letter, they should contact HMRC on Tel: 0300 123 4097.
Parents who are in receipt of Universal Credit can still utilise the funded hours for working parents, if they meet the eligibility criteria, alongside the Universal Credit for Childcare. This means that they can still claim for up to 85% of their childcare costs for hours used, as well as the 15 or 30 funded hours.
With the introduction of the 2024 – 2025 funding rates, we would like to take this opportunity to remind early years’ providers of the guidance around fee structures.
Can we please remind providers to be mindful of any additional hourly charges to parents who are accessing an early years’ entitlement funded place for their child.
For example, where a provider’s daily charge is £60 for a 10-hour session, this would equate to £6 per hour. Therefore, in this example, any additional fee paid hours should not be greater than £6 per hour. This is in line with the clause: 13.14 of your signed provider agreement.
Early years’ providers must be completely transparent about any additional charges, which should be discussed and agreed with parents before they sign their FE1 form (contract between the parent and the provider) to take up a funded place.
The local authority has received a number of parental queries around invoices for the stretched delivery of their child’s early years entitlement funded hours.
Many of these queries were in relation to providers calculating a child’s full entitlement over a year, and then dividing the funded hours equally over 12 months as part of their invoicing process. This resulted in confusion to parents who had given notice on their child’s place part way through the year, when receiving their final invoice.
Important:
Please can we remind providers using a similar process when invoicing, to ensure parents are made fully aware of how invoices are calculated prior to their child taking up their funded place, in order to avoid challenge from parents regarding any monies owed on their final invoice.
The provider portal will be open from 21 June – 30 June 2023 for the submission of July 2024 Actuals.
Please ensure data is submitted accurately on to the system and all children’s hours are included.
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.
Important:
If information is not submitted by this deadline, you will not receive your funding during the normal payment timescale. Financial Services are not able to make bespoke payments where submissions have been missed.
Please be reminded that parents must have applied for their HMRC working family code, the term prior to which they wish to access the extended entitlement funding:
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Apply for code before
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Eligible to start
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31 March
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Summer Term (after Easter Holidays)
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31 August
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Autumn Term (September)
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31 December
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Spring Term (January)
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The local authority does not have discretionary funds to secure additional funded hours where the parent has applied or reconfirmed after the 31 March, 31 August or 31 December deadline dates, nor for codes issued after the relevant dates listed in the Statutory Guidance.
Additional Information:
Working family entitlement, 9 to 23-months-olds codes (issued by HMRC) are 11-digits long and most will start with 50 - the same as the existing 2,3 and 4-year-old codes. It has been designed this way, so that children will keep these 11-digit codes for when they turn 2, 3 and 4. A temporary eligibility code will start with 11. For children in foster care, eligibility codes usually start with 40.
Codes should be checked via the existing Eligibility Checker on your provider portal (which is always open).
To receive funded hours via an HMRC 11-digit code, parents must:
- have a valid working family’s code
- have a code with a start date, prior to the term they wish their child to attend
- ensure their child meets the age criteria - the child starts the term following their relevant birthday
Important:
It is imperative that providers check HMRC 11-digit codes are valid (start and end dates) for both new and existing parents, on the provider portal, before offering a place to the child in order to avoid parents being issued with an unexpected invoice for childcare that the provider initially agreed would be funded.
A child is not eligible to start a new funded place at an early years’ setting during the code’s grace period.
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.
The FE1 parent / carer declaration form (June 2024 version) has been updated to reflect the changes to the government’s expanded entitlement for working parents from September 2024.
A copy will be made available to use via the following link: SchoolsNet - Funding and contracts.
To support Providers with potential parental queries, the section referencing additional services / charges in the terms and conditions has also been updated to reflect the government’s statutory guidance.
Please use the revised form for new children attending the setting. Parents who have signed the previous version of the form do not need to complete a new one.
The Early Years Finance Team would appreciate your help and feedback by completing a short questionnaire using the link below:
Questionnaire
Analysis of the returns will help the team to evaluate providers views and whether any improvements can be made.
Closure date: 28 June 2024.
Thank you for your time in completing this questionnaire.
Providers are reminded of the process, prior to this annual funding supplement being paid:
- the DAF box should only be ticked for children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
- the DLA letter must be seen.
- the 9-digit reference number (displayed on the child’s DLA letter) must be submitted on the provider portal (child’s ‘Notes’ tab).
- the 9-digit reference number should also be included on the FE1 / Parent Declaration Form.
- a copy of the DLA letter must be retained securely by the Provider.
Important:
If the DLA reference number is not entered on to the provider portal, DAF funding will not be paid. NO reference number - NO payment.
To help you submit information on to the provider portal, providers are reminded to utilise the support and guidance available on the tile, using the following link: SchoolsNet - Funding and contracts
Providers are reminded that where there is a change to the nominated person who has access to the portal, please ensure you notify us as soon as possible to ensure their access can be removed and a new nominee reallocated and complete a User Access form, a copy can be found via the following link: SchoolsNet - Funding and contracts
Providers should complete Section 2 – ‘Staff Leavers and Starters’ and return the form to the following relevant email address:
CS.enquiries.childminders@derbyshire.gov.uk; CS.enquiries.groupcare@derbyshire.gov.uk
CS.enquiries.schools@derbyshire.gov.uk
To ensure that funding claims are submitted within the published timescales, the local authority recommends that more than one person working within the provision (where applicable), is nominated to have access to the provider portal. This will help to prevent missed submissions due to sickness or leave.
Locked out of the portal?
If you find yourself locked out of the provider portal or have forgotten your password, contact the Families Information Service by e-mailing: info.fis@derbyshire.gov.uk where you will be sent, via email, a password re-set.
Important:
To comply with GDPR regulations, particularly the sensitive nature of child data, please ensure passwords are kept safe and not shared with anybody. Passwords are unique to each specific user.
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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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