 As you will be aware, eligible working parents whose children will be aged between 9 and 23 months old on 31 August 2024, can now apply to receive 15 hours childcare starting from 1 September 2024.
Parents can start using their entitlements from the term after the child turns 9 months - see table below. Synergy has now been updated to accept and validate the new 9 month old working families codes and providers will be able to select a new funding type, '9 month to 2 year old' when completing their headcount tasks. A revised provider portal user guide will be issued shortly.
Please direct parents to Childcare Choices for the most up to date information.
 Previously, if a parent on parental leave sought to apply for childcare for the child they were on parental leave for, or if a parent was taking up new employment, they were only able to apply for an eligibility code 31 days before they returned to employment or started new employment. This was the ‘31 day rule’.
As part of the rollout of the expanded entitlements for working parents, the DfE have amended this rule. Now parents who plan to start or return to employment on or before 30 September 2024 will be able to apply for a code from 12 May, alongside other parents who intend to take up a place on 1 September.
This applies to parents on maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave, who are applying to use the entitlements for the child that is the subject of the parental leave. It also applies to parents taking up new employment.
Foster carers who are planning to start or return to work will continue to apply through their local authority, rather than through the online system, as normal.
 Some parents may present you with a temporary code starting with 11, which providers will be able to validate in the same way using the eligibility checker in Synergy. These temporary codes will be replaced with a permanent digital code starting with 50 once a parent has reconfirmed eligibility. If you have any queries about these temporary codes please contact eyfunding@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
 The actual task will be available on the provider portal from Monday 24 June 2024. In order to avoid late submissions, please make sure that your current log in details are working. Contact the Synergy support team at synergysupport@portsmouthcc.gov.uk if you have password issues that need resolving. The deadline for submission is Friday 28 June 2024.
All providers will need to complete the task to claim early education funding for their under two's, two, three and four year olds who are registered to attend in the Autumn term. Payments will be processed during the first of September based on the information you submit to us. Please ensure that you complete the correct funding type for the different streams of funding. As a reminder, working families codes are 11 digits long and the disadvantaged two year old codes are 6 digits long.
Please remember:
- Parents must have completed and signed the parental declaration forms before you check the eligibility of the working families codes and before adding children to the headcount. You may want to consider issuing this form to parents as part of your registration process.
You can still claim funding for children who start after the submission date by adding them to the Adjustment period 1 headcount task which will be issued in September 2024.
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