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30 hours funded childcare (aged 9 months to 4-years)

For some families their child(ren) will be eligible to receive an additional 570 hours of early education, if certain national criteria is met.

This is known as the working parent entitlement and means a child could receive up to a maximum of 1140 hours of funded childcare per year.

To determine eligibility for these additional hours, a parent must apply and receive a unique code from HMRC via the Government's Online Childcare Service.

It is recommended that families apply when their child is 9 months between the dates below:

  • Between 1 Sept to 31 Dec, they can get 30 hours from 1st Jan, and it is recommended to apply between 15 Oct to 30 Nov
  • Between 1 Jan to 31 Mar, they can get 30 hours from 1st Apr, and it is recommended to apply between 15 Jan to 28 Feb
  • Between 1 Apr to 31 Aug, they can get 30 hours from 1st Sept, and it is recommended to apply between 15 Jun to 31 Jul

Parents must obtain or have a valid code from HMRC before the start of the claim period that they wish their child to receive the extended offer of 30 hours per week.  Parents that receive a code after the start date will not be able to access the working parent entitlement until the following claim period.

The code will be valid for 90 days and must be passed to the childcare provider to enable the hours to be claimed on their behalf from the local authority via the provider portal.

Whilst it is the responsibility of the parent to keep their unique code valid via the online childcare service and agree that their information can be shared to enable checks to take place. Providers must remind families to re-confirm their details with HMRC and check the code is valid every claim period.  If the check is delayed, and found not to be valid after the claim period start date, families will not be able to claim the addtional hours unless a grace period applies.

The local authority will also verify codes at least half termly, and the portal chld record will automatically update with the current status of the code.

When a code is no longer valid, a grace period will apply. During the grace period, funding should continue to be claimed on behalf of the parent/carer for their child(ren). If a parent/carer disagree with the eligibility outcome determined by HMRC, there is a review and appeals process. This process is managed by HMRC.

Please refer to the Best Start in Life website for more information.

To offer this entitlement to parent/carers in Norfolk, registered childcare providers must follow the early year's foundation stage framework and meet the inspection standard detailed in the current Statutory Guidance for Early Education and Childcare.

Need some support to claim?

Parents and Carers
Families should talk to their childcare provider or HMRC if there has been technical issues when access their Childcare account. 

Providers
If you have a query about funding, you can:

  • email the Early Years Finance team at [email protected]
  • call the Early Years Finance team on 01603 222300 - Option 2
  • attend or arrange online training which is offered via Teams sessions

 

Marketing materials

Leaflets and posters about early education are available. Please contact the Early Years Advice Line on 01603 222300.

Other information

 

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