With the 30 hours roll-out expected from September, childcare providers are starting to get eligibility codes from parents. And this puts managers on the front line, explaining why a parent can’t claim for the desired period, or the intricacies of what happens if they have moved from a different county.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that many local authorities haven’t yet produced provider’s agreements detailing policies on things such as additional charges, leaving providers unsure on what terms they are able to offer the 30 hours.
THE PROCESS
Parents sign up to both the 30 hours entitlement and tax-free childcare schemes via one online system, the Childcare Service, which should consider their eligibility for both simultaneously. Parents need to complete a separate application for a Government Gateway account, which generates an ID to access the Childcare Service. According to HMRC, ‘The 30 hours eligibility code will stay with the child as long as the same parent is still applying. If a different person (e.g. a new partner) applies, they’ll get a new eligibility code.’
Children will be able to start a funded nursery place from the September, January or April closest to their third birthday. According to James Hempsall, whose consultancy delivers the 30 hours support programme, Childcare Works, HMRC will determine eligibility for a child aged between two years and 39 weeks, and five years and 22 weeks.
IN THEORY
Providers are expected to encourage parents to apply for the 30 hours the term before their child’s third birthday. They must also remind parents to provide their code, along with their NI number and child’s date of birth, so they can validate the code with their local authority (with the parent’s written consent) – not forgetting also to remind parents to reconfirm to HMRC their eligibility every three months.
Mr Hempsall adds, ‘Providers need to understand the eligibility criteria and know where to direct families who have queries. Checking families’ eligibility is the responsibility of HMRC.
‘Providers should ensure they have any local authority information that has been developed for distribution, including directing families to information sites and putting information on their own sites.’
‘The operational guidance walks and talks providers through the whole process,’ Mr Hempsall says, adding that local authorities and provider networks have organised briefings to provide further information. ‘If providers feel they need more support, that would be a good thing to ask for,’ he explains.
IN REALITY
The application process takes up to 45 minutes – and doesn’t always work, leaving some parents to abandon it altogether.
Angela Hibberd manages Sunbeams Pre-School and Day Nursery in Dorset, which started piloting the 30 hours in April and was in, she says, the first local authority to have the eligibility codes. Parents had to spend ‘considerable time’ getting their codes, including chasing them up on the phone. She says, ‘I have two parents who have given up trying because their children are only at nursery until end of term.’
Bex Shelton, an early years leader at The Oaks Community Primary School in Ipswich, says, ‘Some days it seems to work fine, but on others parents spend 40 minutes filling in forms and at the end it says it’s not working. Some codes arrive immediately and others days later, making it difficult to support worried parents.’
An HMRC spokesman says the ‘majority’ of parents will receive an eligibility result ‘straight after’ their application. ‘All codes for parents who are eligible are sent to local authority systems, so that providers can check parents are providing valid 30-hours codes. Any parents encountering issues with 30-hours codes can check that they’re using the right code by looking in their Childcare Service account.
‘While the vast majority of customers successfully apply without any issues, we are aware that some parents and childcare providers have been experiencing technical difficulties and we apologise to them. We investigate and act on these issues as soon as they’re brought to our attention, and anyone experiencing problems can call our dedicated helpline.’
Explaining why parents aren’t eligible often falls to the provider. Steph Dorling, manager of The Old Station Nursery in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, says one parent at her setting had successfully applied for a code in advance of her child turning three on 3 September. But she misses the cut-off date for the first 15 hours (1 September), while the extended entitlement can only be accessed the term after the child turns three, so she won’t be entitled to any funding for one term.
Ms Dorling says, ‘Her child won’t be eligible until January, yet she assumed she would be able to claim from September. She was very good about it, but it is not very clear about the [different starting] dates – parents are assuming it will start straightaway.’
She has set a deadline of 22 July for parents to produce codes, but she adds, ‘We are running out of time – we’ve six weeks left of term for those parents who are going to access 30 hours from September.’
Parents are also unaware that applying for 30 hours is linked to tax-free childcare, and applying for the latter means their tax credits automatically stop. The operational guidance says parents who don’t want tax-free childcare should still apply via the Childcare Service, choosing 30 hours only.
However, one parent wrote on Facebook, ‘I applied for the additional 15-hour funding and without my knowing the system automatically put me forward for tax-free childcare which has cancelled my tax credits. I was told … they were cancelling the application for tax-free funding and would have my tax credits reinstated. I phoned them today and was told I had to cancel it myself… tax credits have said they will only back date a month’s worth and it’s been a week already!’
A provider adds, ‘There is a small box [in the application] advising that continuing will result in tax credits being stopped; however, it is very easy to miss.’
According to HMRC, ‘Parents will be asked if they’re receiving childcare support in the form of tax credits, childcare vouchers or Universal Credit. If they are, we ask parents whether they wish to keep their existing childcare support and apply for 30 hours only, or apply for tax-free childcare and 30 hours, and stop receiving their tax credits, childcare vouchers or Universal Credit. We then show parents a further message confirming the choice they’ve made and give them the opportunity to change their mind. We are constantly improving our on-screen messaging to parents to make sure that this choice is as clear as possible.
‘If parents confirm they are not in receipt of tax credits, childcare vouchers or Universal Credit, they will receive a tax-free childcare account and/or 30 hours’ free childcare if they’re eligible. Parents can choose to use their tax-free childcare account as much or as little as they wish.’
Information on the Childcare Service says parents are not automatically barred from claiming 30 hours if they are already getting Universal Credit or tax credits.
30 HOURS: PARENT SCENARIOS
The following scenarios, based on providers’ queries, are not clearly addressed in the guidance. We’ve sought clarification from HMRC and James Hempsall:
What happens if a parent started 30 hours in one county and has moved to a new setting? Can the setting put a claim in for part of the term for that child, or will they have to forfeit their additional hours until the following term?
As far as reasonably practicable, local authorities should ensure that eligible children who move into the local authority area from another local authority area are able to take up their free place, regardless of when during the term that is. Local authorities should be clear with providers on how they will be funded when a child takes up their place outside of any regular headcount for funding purposes.
Do parents who want the 30 hours on the basis of a future job offer, i.e. have no job at the time of applying, have to wait until they get the job to apply (and thus not have it for the first term when they have the job)?
No. If a parent has an offer of employment to start within the next two weeks, and expects to earn the equivalent of 16 hours per week at National Minimum Wage (£120 per week) over the next three months, they can apply for 30 hours’ free childcare or tax-free childcare.
If a parent forgets to do the three-month renewal check in time, and so becomes ineligible, can they just reapply during the grace period and become eligible again, and not lose any funding?
Yes. A parent can also re-apply for 30 hours if their circumstances change.
How is the funding split when 30 hours is split between two providers? Is it a) universal 15 hours in setting one and extended 15 in setting two? b) 7.5 each of universal and extended entitlement setting in each setting? Or c) whatever the parent wants?
Parents can split their free entitlement between multiple providers, though no more than two sites in one day. Local authorities are still working through this, but it could be either a, b or c. Both providers would need to collect the code from a family, get permission from the family to validate it, then validate the code and use it on their headcount data collection.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Customer Interaction Centre: 0300 123 4097
To see what childcare support is available: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Childcare Calculator: www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator
Childcare Service: https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk
30 hours eligibility guide: www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-eligibility
