Proposal for more flexibility in Free Entitlement childcare for 3 and 4 year olds

On 5th July Sarah Teather, Minister of State for the Department for Education, announced the Government’s intention to go out to consultation on plans to further increase flexibility around family’s entitlement to free childcare.

The proposed changes are:

• Extending the times in which the Free Entitlement can be accessed from 8am – 6pm to 7am – 7pm
• Allowing families to access the entitlement over a minimum of 2 days instead the current 3

Millions of working parents could potentially benefit from the proposed changes, by enabling many more parents of toddlers to get a part-time job without paying extra to top up the free childcare.  

At the same time, she also announced the intention to Introduce a progress check for every 2 year old so that any signs of delayed development can be identified and addressed earlier.

The announcement forms part of a wider government strategy on early intervention but is of particular interest to those of us working in the Childcare sector. You will find details of the consultation on this web site as soon as they are available.

 What is the free entitlement?

• The Free Entitlement offers a maximum of 570 hours of early learning and childcare a year over no fewer than 38 weeks of the year from the relevant date following their 3rd birthday until they reach compulsory school age.
  
  
• Families may choose for their child to take all or part of their Free Entitlement at a maximum of two settings.
  
  
• Providers deliver the Free Entitlement through a range of delivery models to suit the varying needs of families.
  
  
• If you need help finding a provider that meets your specific requirements, contact the Families Information Service.
  
  
• To calculate when the Free Entitlement will commence for your child, just enter the child's birth month and year into the calculator below:
  
  
  •  Free Entitlement Start Calculator (Excel format 35KB)
    
    
• The entitlement is completely free. Providers are not allowed to place conditions of access on families wishing to access the entitlement.
  
  
• If you experience any difficulty in respect of accessing a place please contact the Families Information Service for advice and assistance.

How do you access it?

Access is through any provider registered with Northamptonshire County Council to provide the free entitlement Details of registered providers are available through the Families Information Service.