Extended free childcare hours

Proposal

What is the extended entitlement for 30 hours free childcare and when does it start?

The 30 hours extended free childcare entitlement will commence in September 2017.

This entitlement will be available to eligible working parents of 3 and 4 year olds who are already accessing or will access the existing universal 15 hours entitlement.

It will provide eligible working parents with a total of 30 hours of free childcare per week over 38 weeks, or 1,140 hours per year if taken over more weeks per year.

The entitlement will include the existing 15 hours of free early education which is already available to all three and four year olds.  The additional 15 hours of free childcare is to help families manage the cost of childcare, and support parents into work, or to work more hours should they wish to do so.

Am I eligible for the extended entitlement for 30 hours free childcare?

You will be eligible if:

• Both parents are working (or the sole parent in a lone-parent family), and both earn a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at the minimum wage (for under 25 year olds), or the national living wage (if over 25 years old), and less than £100,000 per annum (this includes employed, self-employed, and zero hours contracts).  You do not need to actually work 16 hours per week, but your earnings must be equal to at least 16 hours work at minimum wage/national living wage.
• Both parents are employed but one or both parents are temporarily away from the workplace due to parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave, or statutory sick pay.
• One parent is employed and the other parent has substantial caring responsibilities based on benefits received for caring.
• One parent is employed, and one is disabled or incapacitated based on receipts of certain benefits.

How does the local authority find out what parents, childcare providers, and local employers think about the extended free entitlement, and Shropshire's Childcare Sufficiency Assessment?

We're currently running a short survey to get the views of:

• Parents/carers
• Childcare providers
• Employers

You can access the survey relevant to yourself by clicking on the "Get involved" tab at the top of the page and clicking on the appropriate green button.

More information

What is a Childcare Sufficiency Assessment?

Under the Childcare Act (2006), local authorities have a duty to ensure there is sufficient childcare to meet the needs of parents of children aged 0-14 (or up to 18 years old for children with a disability), so they can work, take up education or training.

We'll carry out a detailed assessment of the supply and demand for children during the summer-term each year, and publish in an annual report by the end of the autumn term.  Information for the current 2016 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment is presently being gathered, and the completed report will be available later this year.

What else is happening in Shropshire about the extended entitlement?

Development - Some local authorities across the country were selected by the Department of Education (DfE) to be Early Innovators to support the roll out of the 30 hours childcare entitlement for eligible three and four-year-old children. The early involvement of those local authorities did not include any extra funding to offer the additional 15 hours childcare entitlement prior to September 2017.  Along with the majority of remaining local authorities, Shropshire will be able to learn from the findings of these Early Innovators as they develop and try out ideas before the extended entitlement for 30 hours is introduced later next year.

Childcare Sufficiency Assessment - We're working with childcare providers to help ensure there are sufficient childcare places available in local areas, ready for the availability of the extended entitlement in September 2017.

SEN(D) - We're working with parents, childcare providers and partners to further develop the support available for children with SEN(D) attending childcare provision.