FAQs (Extension for 3 and 4 year olds)
A) General Queries: New Code of Practice September 2010
B) The Offer: Time
C) The Offer: Finance
D) The Offer: Data
E) Parental Queries
F) Quality
A) General Queries: New Code of Practice September 2010
1. What are the eligibility criteria for offering 15 hours?
All providers registered to provide the Free Entitlement will be funded to offer 15 hours if they wish to do so from September 2010.
2. Can the offer be split between providers?
Yes. The offer can be accessed across two (but no more than two) providers including childminders. The funding will be made available on a pro-rata basis according to the amount of free provision taken up at each provider, with funding apportioned based on the number of free hours accessed at each provision
3. Can a child attend a KCC School and a private/ voluntary provision and split the Free Entitlement between the two?
No – currently the funding cannot be split- the school receives the funding. Schools must provide 15hrs of Free Entitlement per week for every pre-statutory school age pupil from the first day of the term in which they are admitted. This part- time ‘staggering ‘ must become full- time within the three weeks of entry. This way of working is being reviewed and is anticipated to change in April 2011.
4. Can a provider refuse to offer a free entitlement place for a child if the parent only wants them to take up the place part-time?
September 2010 – March 2011
4a) If a parent states that they wish their child only to attend a maintained nursery for part of the free entitlement then the nursery must say that no, they are funded to offer five sessional places only . If the parent only wishes to access part of the free entitlement then they must use PVI provision.
4b) If a parent states that they wish their child only to attend a PVI provider for part of the free entitlement then the PVI provider is entitled to say that no, they don't have a vacancy for a part-time place. The PVI provider may choose to take a child part-time or full-time depending on their occupancy rates. The risk that the provider takes is that they may not fill the place full-time either, but that decision is theirs to make. The local authority has a duty to provide sufficient places across the county and this is currently being achieved.
April 2011 onwards
4c) Counting arrangements are likely to change for the maintained sector with the introduction of the single funding formula in 2011 so it will be possible to split the offer more evenly.
5. Are childminders also offering the extended hours?
Yes, as long as they are accredited and part of a network and registered on Kent’s Directory of Providers.
6. Will providers be required to participate?
No – they can choose to withdraw from registration to offer the Free Entitlement.
7. Is it essential that providers are able to provide the offer flexibly for them to participate?
No, this is not a requirement and some will continue to deliver sessionally.However, many parents will be keen to access the entitlement flexibly, and providers are encouraged to do so.
8. What is the flexibility framework?
This shows the ‘outer limits’ of when the Free Entitlement may be accessed – there is no expectation that all providers should offer this full range, but the funding may not be accessed outside these limits.
| Entitlement | 15 hours a week over a minimum of 3 days |
| Length of offer | 38 weeks |
| Minimum hours in day | 2.5 hour blocks |
| Maximum hours in day | 10 hours in one day, 12.5 hours in total if the offer is split over two days only |
| Timing | 8am-6pm |
| Providers | Two maximum |
- If taking only 1 day, maximum is 10 hours (8am – 6pm)
- If taking only 2 days, maximum is 12.5 hours over 2 days (if provider is providing offer flexibly this can be split any way up to maximum 10 hours in 1 day and 2.5 hours on 2nd day)
- If taking 3 days all 15 hours available (again, if provider is providing offer flexibly this can be split any way up to maximum 10 hours in 1 day and 2.5 hours on each of following 2 days)
- If the provider is offering sessional provision rather than full flexibility, the provider will set out their offer – as long as this meets the Code, any combination can be offered within the minimums and maximums outlined above.
9. What happens if providers are unable to extend to 15 hours – will they be able to continue to offer 12.5 hours?
Yes if there are good reasons (such as limitation on use of shared premises), but providers will be encouraged to extend to 15 hours as parents are likely to wish to take up the full Free Entitlement Providers who do not extend may therefore not be first choice for parents. Providers must inform parents that they cannot offer the full Free Entitlement.
Providers are also welcome to apply for early year’s capital funding if this would enable them to offer the extended hours.
10. If a parent wants their child only to access the free hours, but the provider runs longer sessions, does the provider have to take this child?
No – providers are not prevented from running longer sessions in blocks of 3 & 4 hours etc. Additional time attended may therefore be chargeable if the provider does not make the Free Entitlement available flexibly (the first 15 hours free within the Framework). If a parent does not wish their child to attend for the whole session but only for part, the provider can rightly say, sorry but this nursery is not for you. There can be no guarantee of a place with a particular provider.
11. Can providers insist that all parents access the funding in the same way (i.e. all have 3x5 hour sessions)
Yes – if providers offer the free entitlement sessionally, they can set out their session times and parents can take it or leave it. If providers offer the Free Entitlement flexibly, they can allow parents to access a mutually agreed pattern within the minimums and maximums set out in the Code (as above query 10)
12a) Will KCC decide on the model of flexibility?
KCC is not planning to add any requirements beyond the Code requirements. The Code states that local authorities should have regard to patterns needed when assessing the provision to ensure that there are sufficient places
12b) Can a parent ask to have a particular model at their existing provider?
Parents do not have a right to any particular model or to a place at any particular provider other than the entitlement to 15 hours (via either the model 3 days x 5 hours or 5 days x 3 hours) and there is no expectation that they would change their hours frequently within a seasonal term
13. Can the offer be stretched in 2010-11 over more than 38 weeks - as mentioned in the Code?
No - The Code does not require that local authorities implement this in 2010-11. Parental demand is the determining factor. The last Childcare Sufficiency Assessment did not indicate parental demand for this. KCC’s current plan is to set up a working group to look at this in autumn 2010 for implementation no earlier than September 2011 if parental demand is evidenced
15. How is the offer delivered?
Each eligible child is entitled to 15 hours per week of Free Entitlement for 38 weeks each academic year. In Kent, providers may choose to offer the first 15 hours per week of Free Entitlement over 3 days before they charge for any additional time. However, they may also offer the Free Entitlement in sessions (for example 5 x 3 hour sessions or 3 x 5 hour sessions per week), in which case, where a session is longer than the free hours they will be able to charge for the additional time before a child has accessed their full Free Entitlement.
The Kent Children and Families Information Service will hold information about how each provider operates so that parents may be advised.
16. Can parents be charged any fee for the child’s Free Entitlement?
No – parents must not be charged any kind of “top up” fee for any part of the free entitlement up to 15 hours per week – it must be free at the point of delivery and providers should not levy any fee in respect of the Free Entitlement.
17. Can providers charge what they like for any additional time after the funded hours or sessions (wrap-around care)?
Yes – but your provider should tell you what these charges are before you accept additional time. Any additional time provided can only be charged for outside of The Free Entitlement.
18. Can providers charge for additional services?
Yes - any additional services can only be made compulsory & charged for if they take place outside of the Free Entitlement hours – any additional services provided during the free entitlement period may not be charged to parents as a compulsory fee, only as an optional payment.
19. Can providers charge retainers for additional weeks of provision over and above 38 weeks of free entitlement?
Providers must not make compulsory charges a condition of access to the Free Entitlement hours but they are able to set out their own requirements for charges in relation to any privately funded hours.
20. Can providers charge “top-up” fees?
No - it should be noted that Code states that “local authorities must ensure that providers are not charging “top-up” fees” (the difference between what a provider would normally charge and the funding they may receive from the local authority to deliver the Free Entitlement) in relation to any free hours.
21. How will funding be split if more than one provider is accessed?
Parents / carers may access as little or as much of the Free Entitlement as they wish, and may take up the entitlement at a maximum of 2 providers (including Private / Voluntary / Independent Providers, Maintained school nursery classes and accredited childminders). Funding will be split pro-rata based on the number of free hours accessed at each provision. Please see Question 3 about School nursery classes
22. Can the Free Entitlement cover the lunch period?
A provider may choose to include lunch as part of the Free Entitlement where this is delivered as part of the learning experience. In these circumstances parents cannot be charged for the lunch period although providers can ask for payment for meals. However parents should be allowed to provide their own meals where appropriate storage is available. Parents will need to check this facility is available from the provider.
23. How should the free entitlement be shown on invoices to parents for chargeable hours?
Where invoices are provided for privately funded hours, the Free Entitlement should be shown as free hours provided rather than a monetary deduction. Examples are given to assist providers with billing
24. Will the free entitlement funding hourly rate paid to providers change each term?
No, hourly rates are fixed for a financial year, so any amendments to a setting’s position (e.g. recruitment of an Early Years Professional) will not be reflected until the following financial year.
25. Why is the supplement relating to a deprivation factor in the funding formula worked out differently to the phased rollout of the extended hours?
The funding formula supplement for deprivation is calculated based on an assessment of the postcodes of children accessing the free entitlement at the setting. Including a factor of this kind is a compulsory element in the new funding formula.
However, the phased rollout of the extended hours was based on the postcode of the setting alone.
26. How will the scheme be administered?
Management Information Unit will continue to conduct a headcount 3 times each year and will make the payments according to information provided by providers.
27. Who does the money get paid to and how?
Payment is made directly by KCC to the provider’s bank account for the hours claimed by that provider for each child .There is no monetary value to parents.
28. How much flexibility is there around the birth date of a child?
None, the regulations prescribe that children become eligible for free early years provision on the dates set out below.
| A child born in the period | Will become eligible for a free place |
| 1 April to 31 August | 1 September following child’s 3rd birthday (Autumn* school term) |
| 1 September to 31 December | 1 January following child’s 3rd birthday (Spring* school term) |
| 1 January to 31 March | 1 April following child’s 3rd birthday (Summer* school term) |
Where a child is new to claiming the Free Entitlement, Kent will fund from the day the child starts. This also applies if a child moves into Kent from another local authority.
29. Can a parent change Providers and continue to receive the Free Entitlement?
Yes – but only at the beginning of terms 1.3 or 5 (Autumn, Spring or Summer).
30. How will patterns of demand be assessed?
The Childcare Sufficiency Assessment will identify this and this information will be incorporated in due course.
31. Does the new Code guarantee that the Free Entitlement can be accessed flexibly?
Yes – but there is no guarantee of a place at any particular provider.
32. Does the new code guarantee that the Free Entitlement can be accessed in set patterns of 5 x 3 hours or 3 x 5 hours?
Yes – but there is no guarantee of a place at any particular provider. If there is demand for these patterns or any other pattern then the local authority is required to step in to ensure this is available locally.
33. Would a provider have to offer a full time place to a child that has a deferred entry to school until after their 5th birthday?
No – local authorities have discretion about whether or not to fund this on an individual case basis, and unless funding is offered there would not be an expectation that providers offer full time places.
F) Quality
35. How will KCC implement the new code in relation to limiting funding to higher quality providers and assessing via EQISP?
KCC is not currently planning to restrict funding for the free entitlement in this way.
36. Will the NCMA be responsible for establishing childminder networks?
Yes, via the NCMA contract.