Can a childminder claim for the 15 hours but a child not use all of them?

[Kitsandkids]

I’m thinking ahead to next September when my daughter will be eligible for the 15 hours free childcare.

I’m a foster carer so am with my daughter most of the time apart from when I’m on courses, at meetings or taking children to appointments. When these things occur I book my daughter into a local childminder. She is a friend of mine but obviously I pay her the going rate. Some months my daughter ends up going 2-3 times a week and other months she doesn’t go at all.

When she’s 3 she’ll be entitled to 15 free hours but I’m not sending her to nursery as I’m happy to keep taking her to the toddler activities we currently do. I will still need the childminder sometimes though.

So can I register with her for 15 hours a week so that she gets the funding (which otherwise won’t go anywhere) but only send my daughter occasionally? Would the childminder get in trouble for that? Would I get in trouble for that? Thanks

If the childminder is audited by the local authority, they will expect to see the hours claimed, matching the hours attended (more or less, depending on illness).

It's fraud for the childminder to claim funding, knowing that it won't be used.

I think she'd have to be booked in for the hours each week, which can then cause issues as your friend then can't use the space for another child when yours isn't using it. I'm fairly certain childcarers have to prove that a child was booked in for those hours by showing a log/register as well, which may also cause problems if she's only going for a couple of hours a month/every other month as they may be able to see that.

I work in childcare - not a childminder so the setup may be slightly different, but afaik the childminder can claim just for the hours your DD attends. It might be a bit of a ballache for her to claim retrospectively though so if you have plenty of advance notice it would probably be helpful. I’d just have a chat with her, explain what you’ve said here and see what she says.

It will very much depend on the childminder’s goodwill - she may need more consistency from a funded child. All you can do is ask.

The point of funded hours is that they get early years education, she needs to go consistently to benefit. Why not put her into preschool

I'm a cm. In my area this wouldn't be possible. Funding can cover occasional absence but we have to notify the LA if I could isn't regularly using their funded place. As pp said, it would be fraudulent for us to claim hours we knew wouldn't be used. Also it is not possible for me to claim just for the hours attended in an irregular fashion.

Thanks all. It looks like this either won’t be possible or would be a right faff for the childminder, so I’ll just carry on paying for the sessions I need.