Government grant for 3-4yr olds?

[MrsWhirling]

Is it right you can't claim this if DC go to a childminder? Only nursery? X

Depends on the childminder as to whether they are part of the scheme

No, that's not true. Some childminders will accept the funding, but not all. For some, it's simply not financially viable to accept the funding as it is considerably lower than their usual hourly rate. (I also have a feeling that they need to be graded good or outstanding by Ofsted, although I may be mistaken).

You would need to speak to childminders individually or via a list which is sometimes available from the Local Authority to find out if they accept the funding.

My childminder said she would, but told me to apply for the grant via local authority. Spoke to them and they said I couldn't apply if DC3 with childminder??!! BTW, childminder hasn't accepted grants before.

It's the childminder that has to register to accept the payments first.

The cm should organise it all for you she just needs to contact her local authority to get the procedures and forms etc. She may not want to do it when she finds out what is involved.

Not all nurseries offer funded places either.