Childcare Support Expansion 2024

This page is about the current and upcoming Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) for parents of children under four. You can find more information on the Government Childcare Choices page.

What is the current offer? 

Currently, all three- and four-year-old children are eligible for 15 hours a week of free childcare or early education (from the term after the child turns three).

Three- and four-year-old children of working parents are also eligible for an additional 15 hours a week (30 hours in total) 

Parents or carers who are receiving some additional forms of government support may be eligible for 15 hours of free early education for their two-year-old child (from the term after their child turns two).

Terms start on 1 January, 1 April and 1 September.

What is the new offer? 

From April 2024, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access up to 15 hours per week of free childcare or early education from the term after their child turns two.

From September 2024, up to 15 hours per week of free childcare will be extended to eligible working parents with a child from nine months old (eligible from the term after the child turns nine months old).

Terms start on 1 January, 1 April and 1 September.

What other changes are coming up? 

From September 2025, up to 30 hours of free childcare will be available for eligible working parents with a child from nine months old up to school age.

Children are eligible starting from the term after their relevant birthday. Terms start on 1 January, 1 April and 1 September.

Parents/carers can take their entitlement during term time which equates to 30 hours per week over 38 weeks per year 

or

Parents/Carers can ‘stretch’ their entitlement over more weeks of the year, for example, a family taking up their entitlement over 52 weeks of the year would be entitled to 22hrs per week.

How many hours of free early education and childcare can I get? 

The new funding offer provides eligible parents/carers with up to 15 hours of free early learning and childcare per week and can take up a place the term after their child is eligible, subject to providing a valid eligibility code.

Eligible two-year-olds are entitled to a total of 570 hours of free early education per year. These are usually taken as 15 hours per week over 38 weeks of the year (split into three terms).

However, if your child‘s provider is open all year round, such as a day nursery, the free hours will be spread equally over those weeks. For example, if your child attends a provider that is open for 52 weeks a year, they will receive 11 hours per week of free childcare making up the 570 hours per year total. 

The below table details how 'stretching’ your free childcare entitlement over more than 38 weeks per year can reduce your weekly entitlement:

Am I eligible for free childcare for my two-year-old?  

There are now two criteria under which families may be eligible for up to 15 hours of free early education and childcare: 

1. Parents who are receiving some additional forms of government benefits or support, as well as families with a child with Special Education Needs or Disabilities (SEND), a child who is looked after by the Local Authority and those who meet specific immigration status requirements may be eligible for up to 15 hours of early education. 

   You can find further information about the criteria for these from the Free Early Education for two-year-olds page.

2. Parents can apply for 15 hours of free childcare for working parents of two-year-olds if they meet the eligibility criteria below. You can apply through the HMRC Childcare Service and will be told by HMRC if you are eligible or not. 

   If you are told that you are not eligible for one of these entitlements, you should check whether you’re eligible for the other. Although there will be some parents who are not eligible for either entitlement.

To be eligible for free childcare for working families, you must have a National Insurance (NI) number and at least one of the following:

• British or Irish citizenship
• settled or pre-settled status, or you have applied and you’re waiting for a decision
• permission to access public funds - your UK residence card will tell you if you cannot do this

If you have a partner, they must have a National Insurance number too.

You can usually get free childcare if you (and your partner, if you have one) are:

• in work (minimum16 hours a week on average) and do not earn more than £100,000 per year
• on sick leave or annual leave
• on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave

If you’re on adoption leave for a child aged two to four years old, you must return to work within 31 days of the date you first apply for free childcare for that child.

How do I find a setting that can offer me a free early years and childcare place? 

Schools, Ofsted registered childcare settings and Childminders are all able to offer free early education and childcare places but do not have to. 

In Waltham Forest the vast majority do. 

Providers who deliver the funded places can be found in the childcare directory. You can search for your local childcare providers who deliver Free Early Learning and Childcare places by selecting “Registered for two-year-old funding” or “Registered for three- to four-year-old funding” as appropriate.

Does my chosen setting have to offer my free early education and childcare hours in the way that I want to take them up?

Government guidance is clear that:

• Not all providers will be able to offer fully flexible places and the entitlement to a free place does not offer a guarantee of a place at any one provider or a particular pattern of provision. 
• Providers are free to set their own criteria for the admission of children providing they comply with relevant legislation on equalities and non-discrimination. 
• Providers should ensure that their admissions information is clear and accessible for parents/carers
• Providers are able to set a limit on the number of places they will offer to parents/carers who only want to take up their free hours and do not want to buy any chargeable hours should they choose to, but should do this in an open and transparent way by publishing this in their fees and charges information

In line with this, some childcare providers may need to limit the number of delivery models that they offer and/or the number of places they offer where the parent/carer only wants to take up their free early education and childcare hours. T

his may be necessary for the setting to manage their resources (e.g. staffing) effectively, ensure that they fill as many places/hours as possible (making the setting financially sustainable) and enable them to deliver high-quality childcare within the resources available to them.  

In some instances, this may mean that parents/carers are unable to secure a place at their first choice provider. 

The Childcare Team can support parents/carers in finding a suitable childcare provider that can accommodate the required childcare hours. You can contact the childcare team via childcare@walthamforest.gov.uk or 0208 496 3566

Why are my nursery fees going up? 

Generally, at the beginning of the financial year (1 April every year in most instances), providers typically examine their fee structure to revise in line with any increase in costs, such as energy costs, rise in the national minimum wage, inflation and other relevant factors. 

If parents/carers believe the increase in fees is higher than they expected, they can email their concerns with evidence to the childcare team via childcare@walthamforest.gov.uk to enable further investigation/clarification. 

The childcare team will investigate any concerns and ensure transparency from childcare providers in any fee adjustments. 

However, Government guidance is clear that where parents choose to purchase additional childcare hours, consumables or additional activities, from their childcare provider, this is a private matter between the childcare provider and the parent/carer. 

What information does my provider need to give me to evidence that I am getting my free early education and childcare entitlement completely free of charge?

Government guidance is clear that providers must:

• Ensure that their invoices and receipts are clear, transparent and itemised allowing parents/carers to see that they have received their child’s free entitlement completely free of charge and understand fees paid for additional hours or services. Invoices and receipts should include the provider’s full details so that they can be identified as coming from a specific provider
• Ensure that they do not charge parents/carers “top-up” fees (any difference between a provider’s normal charge to parents/carers and the funding they receive from the local authority to deliver free places).

It's also important to note that:

• Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high-quality, flexible childcare. It is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services.
• Providers can charge for meals and snacks as part of a free entitlement place and they can also charge for consumables, such as nappies or sun cream, and services such as trips and specialist tuition. Core costs of running a business that delivers government-funded childcare are not consumables used by the child or additional services provided to the child. These include, but are not limited to, insurance, Ofsted registration, maintenance, business rates, training costs, rent and energy bills. These are core costs of running a business and we expect these to be covered by government funding and that parents should not be charged.
• Providers should be mindful of the impact of additional charges on parents, especially the most disadvantaged. Providers, who choose to offer the free entitlements, are responsible for setting their own policy on providing parents with options for alternatives to additional charges, including allowing parents to supply their own meals or nappies or waiving or reducing the cost of meals and snacks.

We would suggest that you request information from your provider about your free early education and childcare hours and any additional weekly charges in a simple format as set out in the example below. 

Trips, outings and specialist tuition charges may be occasional charges and therefore may be provided separately just before delivery. These charges should be made clear in any fees and charges information provided by the setting and included in your invoice.

If you have any concerns about how details regarding your free entitlement and additional charges have been provided to you, or the additional goods or services being charged for please contact our Childcare Information Service at childcare@walthamforest.gov.uk or 0208 496 3566 so that we can assist and provide clarity where we can.  

It's important to note that the Government guidance is clear that, where parents choose to purchase additional childcare hours, consumables or additional activities, from their childcare provider, this is a private matter between the childcare provider and the parent/carer. 

I want to access my free early education and childcare place but my childcare provider is asking for a deposit. Can they do this? 

Providers can charge a refundable deposit to parents/carers accessing the free entitlements but should also consider if this would prevent take-up, especially for disadvantaged families. 

The purpose of the deposit is to give providers certainty that a parent/carer will take up the place. 

In most instances, where a family is only taking up their universal 15-hour entitlement for their three- and four-year-old child, or is only taking up their 15-hour entitlement for their two-year-old under the benefits-related/disadvantaged criteria, the Council expects that these families would not be charged a deposit as this could prevent take up, especially for disadvantaged families. If, however, the provider does charge a deposit, this must be returned within a term of the child taking up their place. 

Any family taking up the working family free early education entitlement can be charged a refundable deposit by providers. It will be for the provider to determine a reasonable timescale for refunding deposits in full to parents/carers. 

The provider must provide details to the parents/carers of the deposit amount and any circumstances in which the provider would not be obliged to refund some or all of the deposit, for example, if a parent/carer fails to take up their place, or ceases their place without sufficient notice. 

If a family is taking up the working family free early education entitlement and is buying additional chargeable hours, providers can ask for fees related to the additional chargeable hours monthly in advance.

What support is there to reduce the additional cost of chargeable childcare that I am paying for? 

If you are paying for chargeable hours in addition to your free early education entitlement there are schemes to assist with these costs

Tax-Free Childcare

Tax-free childcare is a government scheme to help working families with their childcare costs.

Parents can open an online childcare account to pay their registered childcare providers directly. For every £8 a parent pays into their account, the government will add £2.

You (and your partner, if you have one):

• are 16 or over
• are employed or self-employed
• earn at least £139 a week and not more than £100,000 per year per parent (only one parent must be working in a lone-parent family)
• are not receiving Tax Credits, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers

You need to apply online by setting up a childcare account on GOV.UK:

• You can do this at the same time as applying for the 30 hours of free childcare for three- and four-year-olds
• You must reconfirm your eligibility/details every three months (you will receive a reminder message) 

Universal Credit for Childcare

If you are working, Universal Credit can help with the costs of childcare, no matter how many hours you work.

You may be able to claim up to 85 per cent of your childcare costs if you’re eligible for Universal Credit and meet some additional conditions. The amounts you can receive in childcare costs are:

• a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child
• and a maximum of £1,108.04 per month for two or more children

Childcare support is currently paid in arrears. This means that you will usually pay the costs yourself, and Universal Credit will then pay you some of that money back.

You can't claim Universal Credit at the same time as:

• Tax credits
• Tax-Free Childcare 

Apply for Universal Credit 

A full list of support for parents/carers to reduce the cost of childcare can be found on the Waltham Forest Website