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17 December 2025

Headcount Special – Spring Term 2026

Autumn term headcount is due to take place between 05/01/2026 until 16/01/2026 with the official headcount date being 15/01/2026. Here are just a few pointers to consider this term....

• The web address is https://eastriding.gov.uk
• Please note that the funded rates for the financial year of 2024/2025 they are as follows:
  • 9 month+ - £10.00
  • 2 year funding - £7.39
  • 3&4 year funding - £5.41

• The e-Hub will be open from 05/01/2026 and it will remain open until 16/01/2026. During this period you will be able to enter your details and submit your funding for the 11 weeks commencing 05/01/2026 until 27/03/2026.
• Please remember that if you have not already done so within the last 90 days you will need to change your password for the Ehub to access the system.
• Please make sure you include all the children who are eligible for 9 month+, 2 year funding or 3/4 year funding at your setting on the week of the headcount.
• Any funded children accepted by your setting without checking they are eligible before the start of term (W/C 05/01/2026) will be your responsibility and funding cannot be claimed from the local authority.
• You can make amendments during this 3 week period but you must remember to save the changes and resubmit or the changes won't be applied. If you do need to resubmit, please send an email to fee.earlyyears@eastriding.gov.uk with the details and initials of the child where the information has changed. This ensures the Performance Team know what data to process.
• The system will now warn you when you press submit that there are children who are on 0 hours, Please remember to delete any children on the e-Hub who are no longer attending rather than leaving them on for 0 hours. If you believe you haven’t submitted children with zero hours this is your prompt to double check your claims.
• You will also need to include any Early Years Pupil Premium information you have collated from your parental agreement forms. This should be added to the 'parent / carer details' tab for each child (Please see separate Early Years Pupil Premium section below for more information).
• Every term we still receive a number of duplicate claims. If you are aware you have a child who also attends another setting (this should be identified on the parental agreement form), please can you ensure the parents know they are still only entitled to 15/30 hours a week. The child needs to be attending the setting on the week of the headcount and each setting should only claim the number of funded hours the child is attending as of that week. The Performance Team will be sending duplicate claim emails out which will need to be resolved before the date advised in that email to receive the funding. If they are not resolved and the Performance Team are not aware of the resolution, neither party will receive the funding for the individual child.
• It is important that if you are making a nil return (e.g. you offer funded places but have no children currently) you must email the fee.earlyyears@eastriding.gov.uk email to let the Performance Team know, this will stop unnecessary chase up emails that will be sent if not.
• After 16/01/2026 the e-Hub will be locked to allow processing and validation of the submitted data. Final balancing payments, based on the submitted 15/01/2026 headcount data less your monthly payments already paid in the first week of December (dates below). If applicable, this payment will also include an amount for Early Years Pupil Premium.
• 2^nd March - 3 and 4 year old funding
• 4^th March - 2 year old funding
• 6^th March – 9 month – 23 month funding
• Guidance notes for accessing the e-Hub and completing the headcount can be found on the FISH website on the 'Working with children-information for childminders and childcare settings' page in the ' What is the e-Hub and what is headcount?' section.

9 months + funding, 2 year funding and Expanded entitlement

Please remember that parents that meet the working parents’ criteria and have a child that falls into the age brackets for funding need to have an eligible code dated to start on or before 31/12/2025. If you accept a child without checking they are eligible for the expanded entitlement, we will not be responsible for covering this funding and responsibility will fall back on yourself and/or parent to cover costs.

The same rules apply for all funding types:

• For children who are accessing the expanded entitlement (9 months+, 2 year working parents and 3&4 year), you will need to input this into the correct field within the child’s ‘funding’ tab. For all children who are accessing any of their expanded entitlement you will also need to complete the parent’s details and tick the consent to check eligibility in the same tab. This allows you to perform an eligibility check on the child before you can submit any expanded entitlement claims. The eligibility check box is the blue box on the funding tab. This will need pressing before you can save the child's details.

You can find more detailed instructions in  the  Guidance notes for accessing the e-Hub and completing the headcount, which can be found on the FISH website on the 'Working with children – Childcare settings offering free early education' ‘What is the e-Hub and what is headcount?' section.

• If, due to technical issues with the expanded entitlement process, parents have not yet received a code, but have received confirmation of eligibility, please contact FISH with the child’s details, parent’s details and funding details. You will also need to provide evidence that the child is eligible for the extended entitlement (such as a screenshot of the parent’s application showing eligibility) which shows that they were trying to apply/reconfirm prior to 31/12/2025.

           What can be used as evidence?

• Parents who have applied digitally, whose application is pending a decision from HMRC, known as “amber cases”, will have received a message in their childcare account mailbox indicating that HMRC are looking into their application. The date that this message was received is shown on the main page of the secure message inbox in the childcare account. A parent could show the provider this inbox to indicate when their initial application was made.
• Other evidence such as screen shots of the HMRC account showing eligibility or emails from the HMRC showing eligibility or acknowledging technical difficulties may also be accepted.

Eligibility Code errors

When inputting an eligibility code at headcount, if you receive the error:

• 'Eligibility for extended hours was not obtained. You will only be able to claim for universal hours' - This means that you have inputted the Child's Date of Birth, Parents National Insurance Number or Eligibility Code incorrectly, please try again. We have in recent months seen this when a parent has not reconfirmed their code before the grace period expiry date.
• 'You need to do an eligibility check before you can save extended hours' - This means that you have not clicked on the '30 Hours Free Childcare' blue button on the funding details tab. For guidance on how to do this, please see the E-Hub guidance notes which can be found on the FISH website
• 'NINO is invalid please review your entered values and try again' – This means the National Insurance number is incorrect please check the details you have inputted with the parent if necessary and recheck.

2-Year Disadvantaged Funding

• All children should have codes issued before 31/12/2025 if they are new to funding and haven’t accessed the funding in previous term.
• The code gained through the disadvantaged route when adding these children to headcount can be inputted and the child's details will pull through. (Please note this does not work for 2 year children living in a neighbouring local authority that may not have a code due to differing application processes, as long as you have seen proof they are eligible they can be added to your funding claim). Please refer back to the guidance notes for a quick reminder of how to do this.

Please note: When given a code by a parent please check on the summary screen the date they applied (this is show in this screen), they will also have received a confirmation email on the date of application if you cannot see the date in summary screen screenshot. Also check child's name and DOB matches what they have applied under. A copy of this proof must be retained on the child’s file as per the provider agreement.

Early Years Pupil Premium

(for 9 months to 4-year-old funded children)

You should hopefully have collated all the relevant information you need on the parental agreement form.

• Details of parents eligible under the financial criteria should be added to Headcount via the eHub. You will need to enter parent details for ALL children who you believe to be eligible this term, children who were eligible last term will be automatically carried forward. In order to do this you will need to tick the “EYPP” eligibility checker box found in the funding actuals tab under parent/carer details. Once this is submitted the information will be checked and you will be notified of all eligible children.
• You MUST complete all of the parents’ details in order to apply for EYPP, if you fail to input the name, national insurance number, Date of Birth or tick the EYPP box, we will not apply for EYPP for that child.
• For Adopted children, Children under a Special Guardianship Order and Children who are looked after by another Local Authority - These children must not be added to the e-Hub as it only checks financial eligibility. Please contact FISH by telephone with the child's name, address, date of birth and parents name to apply for EYPP.

Disability Access Funding (DAF)

(for 9 months to 4-year-old funded children)

• All 9 months+, 2, 3 and 4-year-olds, taking their funded early education entitlement at your setting, who are in receipt of child Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in their own right could be eligible for DAF.
• Childcare providers will need to complete the Disability Access Form found on the Working with Children page on the FISH website. This form will then need to be sent to FISH along with a copy of the child’s DLA award letter. You must have sent in this application before headcount closes on 16/01/2026.
• At Headcount, within the child’s details tab, there is a “nominated for DAF” Yes/No option, stating that the particular child is eligible for DAF. You should select “Yes” for any children that you have already completed a DAF application form for.
• If you select this option but have not already submitted an application form and proof of DLA, you will not be paid DAF for the child.
• If the child is not eligible for DAF please select “NO”, last term we had a number of children who had been ticked as being eligible falsely.

Census

Due to the changes made by the DfE and them now requiring your census to be submitted termly new guidance notes have been created and are now published. These Guidance notes are attached providing what information is required in each box broken down to help with its completion.

Please note that you will not be able to submit your Spring term headcount unless you submit that terms census beforehand and you will receive an error message.

Census will open on the 5^th January the same time as the Spring term headcount and will close 16^th January providing 2 weeks to be able to submit census and then headcount information for that term.

Guidance notes have been issued in the FISH mailout dated 11^th December but can also be accessed here Information for childcare providers who offer funding

Failure to complete census beforehand will result in not being able to access your headcount to submit your funding claims for the Spring 2026 term.

• Please remember to tick for all children claiming funding the “present during census” box on the funding details tab in the 'actuals' screen if the child is present with you in January 2026.

Due to an ongoing issue with the new addition asked for by the DfE therefore please put 38 weeks in for the census information (or the number of weeks the provider is open in term-time which could be less than 38 weeks, for independent schools for example). Please note this will not affect your payment, please claim the weekly hours as you would (unstretched for those on a stretched offer)and it will calculate it by the number of weeks in this term.

****Both boxes must be completed with the same figure for 3&4 year funding and only one box will currently appear for 9 month – 2 year funding****

Early Years Funding Rates 2026/27

Early Years Funding Rates 2026/27

The Local Authority was notified by the Education and Skills Funding Agency on Monday, 15 December 2026 of its allocation for early years entitlements for the 2026/27 financial year.

In line with statutory requirements, the local authority are now following the necessary processes to determine and publish the agreed hourly funding rates for 2026/27.

The proposed rates will be presented to the Schools’ Forum in January 2026 for discussion and agreement in principle. Following this, the proposal will be submitted to a Local Authority Cabinet meeting in mid-February 2026 for formal approval.

Once the decision has been ratified, we will confirm the East Riding hourly rates by the statutory deadline of 28 February 2026.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to delivering high-quality early education. Further details will be shared as soon as they are available.