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Funded childcare places

All 3 and 4 year olds and some 2 year olds are entitled to 570 hours per year of funded early education and childcare.

Funded childcare places

All 3 and 4 year olds in England are entitled to 570 hours of funded childcare. This is usually taken as a maximum of 15 hours a week over 38 weeks of the year, in line with Leicestershire’s school term dates, but can be taken as fewer hours over more weeks. Some 2 year olds are also eligible.

30 hours funded childcare - check if you’re eligible

The extended entitlement is intended to support working parents with the cost of childcare and enable them to return to work or to work additional hours.

Working parents who meet the criteria can get 30 hours per week (for up to 38 weeks per year, a total of 1140 hours) of funded childcare.

If you're having difficulty completing an eligibility check or have a query about the result, you should contact 0300 123 4097.

 

To check if you are eligible for any support with childcare costs, visit www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.

Tax-free childcare

If you're a working parent with children under 12 (or under 17 for disabled children), you can open an online account to pay for registered childcare. The government will top-up the money you pay into the account. For every £8 you pay in, the government will add an extra £2. You can receive up to £2,000 per child.

Universal Credit

If you, and any partner, are working, or you’re due to start work, and you’re claiming Universal Credit, you can claim back up to 85% of your eligible childcare costs for children under 16. You could get up to £646 a month for one child, or £1,108 for two or more.

Using your 30 hours

If eligible, you can:

  • use up to 30 hours per week
  • split your hours over more than one provider
  • use a maximum of 10 hours in any one day
  • only use hours between 6am and 8pm
  • use the 30 hours as part of a stretched offer, banking hours to use in the holiday periods if your provider offers this

Using more than one provider

You can spread your funded hours between a maximum of 2 settings per day. The council will work out how the funding payments are split between providers based on the information submitted by the setting. Where parents are taking up a place for an eligible 2 year old, the council would suggest that only one provider is used.

If you've got a concern

If you're worried about the way in which your funding is being managed you should first talk to your provider, and if you have an ongoing issue please email: childcare@leics.gov.uk

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