 You may have noticed in the Statutory guidance for Early Education and Childcare, (updated 1 April 2026), that there has been another name change. The entitlement for 2-year-olds from families receiving additional support (FRAS), (previously referred to as the disadvantaged 2-year-old entitlement), is now referred to as Early Learning for 2-year-olds. We have updated the parental declaration form to reflect this name change to align with the revised wording that parents will see on the Best Start in Life website. You can find the updated parental declaration form on the Portsmouth City Council website, on the Traded Services website under 'resources' or you can download it at the button below.
We have also undated the form to record the number of weeks a provider offers the funding over as a stretched place, and asked parents to consent to re-sign the form each term and when there are any changes. These are recommendations from the DfE following their key findings from their recent assurance review work on Early Years funding.
 Please see the updated important dates and deadlines for 2026/27. These can be found on the Portsmouth City Council website, on the Traded Services website under 'resources' or you can download them at the button below.
Please delete any previous versions of these documents and use these in future.
 From October 2026, the local authorities must pay early education funding, on a monthly basis, to any early year's providers who request it. We are in discussion with our school's finance team and Synergy support team to explore the process to manage this change and we would like to understand how many providers would want to move from the current termly payment process to being paid monthly. This is just an initial request for feedback and will not change the way you currently receive your payments, we are still looking at the finer details so are not able to provide further information at this point.
Please complete the short survey below by 6 May.
 As you know, from the summer term 2026, the DfE have introduced termly census collections and providers are required by legislation to accurately complete the school census or the early years census and submit their census returns to the local authority.
The ‘My Details’ page for the Early Years Census will be available along with the headcount task, from 11 May to 22 May 2026. Prior to submitting your headcount, please ensure that you review all previously saved information on the ‘My Details’ page for accuracy and make any necessary updates before re‑saving.
 We have issued a revised version of the Local Provider Agreement (LPA), reflecting recent changes to the Early Years entitlement.
The main revisions are:
- Ofsted inspection judgements and specified grades (Schedule 1, Section 2 – Quality)
- Funding rates for 2026/2027 (Schedule 2, Part B, Section 2)
- Headcount availability for 2026/2027 (Schedule 2, Part B, Section 4)
No action is required unless there have been changes to your offer, for example a change from term-time only to a stretched offer. Where changes apply, you will be required to complete, sign and return the revised agreement.
Reminder
The costs of chargeable extras should be published on provider websites (excluding childminders and providers caring for 10 or fewer at any one time) or, where a provider does not have website, on the local authority Family Information Service childcare search.
Further information can be found in the LPA under Schedule 1, Section 2n.
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