Foundation 1 (Nursery) 30 Hours Funding
30 hours of free childcare for three and four year-olds
At present all three and four year old children in Derbyshire are entitled to up to 15 hours a week free early education.
From September 2017 many working families will be able to get up to 30 hours of free childcare a week.
This extra free childcare, which is worth around £2,280 per year, aims to help working families by reducing the cost of childcare and will support more parents into work or to work more hours if they want to.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible families must meet the following criteria:
- both parents must be working (or the sole parent in a single parent family)
- each parent must have a weekly income equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum or living wage
- neither parent has an income of more than £100,000 per year.
Parents do not necessarily need to actually work 16 hours a week, but earnings must be equal to 16 hours of work per week at the national minimum wage. This includes parents on zero hours contracts who meet the criteria.
You can check your eligibility for free childcare and apply online (opens in a new window).
If eligible you will be given a code which you must then take to your chosen early years provider who will validate the code with the local authority.
You can then discuss your childcare requirements with your childcare provider and book your child a place.
November 2017 Update
As you may be aware, not all parents receive their code straight away. To make sure parents get their code in time for next term, please ensure you apply by the end of November at the very latest (also remembering to reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months where you already have a 30 hours code).
Please see useful links below:-
- 30 hours of childcare for 3 and 4 year olds. Check you’re eligible at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
- Parents: Make sure your details are up to date. You need to do this every three months https://www.gov.uk/childcareaccount
- Parents: To keep your 30 hours childcare place next term, make sure your details are up to date https://www.gov.uk/childcareaccount
In addition the DfE has produced a new parent communications toolkit, to provide further information to parents about 30 hours and Tax-Free Childcare.
Applying
Queries / Contact Details
If you have any specific queries or comments please email Derbyshire County Council at: enquiries.30hours@derbyshire.gov.uk or tel: 01629 539316 or 01629 532835.
More detailed information can be found on DCC's website at:
Web link below or telephone contact HMRC Childcare Service Helpline on 0300 123 4097:
January 2018 Update
Tax Free Childcare Information
On 15 January 2018, the childcare service will be rolled out to parents of children aged under 9 years (children who become aged 9 on that date will also qualify). The scheme will open to all remaining eligible families with children under the age of 12 years on 14 February 2018.
This means all eligible parents will be able to apply for Tax-Free Childcare before the end of this financial year.
Parents, including the self-employed, can apply online for Tax-Free Childcare by visiting the Childcare Choices website. Parents can also access the government’s childcare calculator through Childcare Choices, which helps parents to choose which government childcare support is best for them.
You can see the GOV.uk story here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tax-free-childcare-opens-to-children-under-9
Latest Update
MARCH 2018
Temporary codes
The childcare service will be offering temporary codes to parents with ongoing technical difficulties from 1 March to 23 April 2018. Please contact the helpline on 0300 123 4097 if you are experiencing difficulties. The helpline will then check eligibility and provide parents with a temporary code if they qualify for 30 hours.
Parents will receive an email or letter with their temporary code and this will include an ‘application date’ to indicate when a parent initially applied. Temporary codes will only be generated for parents where HMRC have evidence they applied/ tried to apply by 31 March. If a parent has a temporary code, no additional evidence is required.
Permanent codes
Where a parent provides a permanent code (beginning ‘500’) which has a validity start date between 1-23 April 2018, there is a requirement that parents provide evidence of when they applied. Parents will need to confirm that they received a message from HMRC advising that their application was pending, to determine their ‘application date’.
If any parents have questions about their application or have difficulties with applying or reconfirming their code, they will need to contact the HMRC helpline on telephone: 0300 123 4097.
Deadline for 30 hours Summer Term
New Applications: Parents should ensure they obtain their 30 hours code in good time for the 31 March 2018 deadline.
HMRC sometimes require more information from the parent/s to check whether they are eligible, so parents should allow time for this. The local authority would recommend that parents apply for their eligibility code on-line to ensure there is a record of communications, should this be required.
To take up a place in the 2018 summer term, parents must have received a valid code no later than, and have their child turn three by, 31 March 2018.
Reconfirmation of codes: Parents need to reconfirm their eligibility code approximately every 3 months. Parents should regularly check their gateway account to ensure they are aware of their reconfirmation deadlines.
It is important parents do not miss reconfirmation deadlines as they could lose their funding for the term.