Eligibility for childcare funding if made redundant

[IceandIndigo]

I'm being made redundant at work and I'm trying to understand what it means for my eligibility for government childcare support. My DS is about to turn 3 so we were expecting to become eligible for the 30 free hours after Easter, and we also use the tax-free childcare scheme.

Am I right in thinking that if I am made redundant but DH is still working we can't claim the tax free childcare supplement, and would only get 15 free hours, not 30, until I manage to find a new job?

Given the system asks me to reconfirm eligibility for the funding every 3 months, does this mean I effectively have up to 3 months grace, or would a change in eligibility be backdated? So for example, if my employment ended on 31 January and I had to reconfirm eligibility on 15 January (when I was still employed), the funding would continue until my next reconfirmation on 15 April? The rules also say I would be eligible if starting work within 31 days, so in this scenario I would potentially have until mid May to find a new job.

Or, are part of the reconfirmation process would they ask when I had stopped being employed and seek to claw back the funding in some way?

I understand the support is intended to be there for working parents but it is pretty stressful to be facing an increase in childcare costs at a time when we're also facing a huge drop in household income. I'm in London and there are massive waiting lists for nursery places so taking DS out of nursery temporarily is not an option.

Since posting this yesterday I've discovered that there do seem to be grace periods, but I'm finding it massively confusing - info starts on p13 of the document:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1027881/Early_years_entitlements-operational_guidance__3_.pdf

I would really appreciate if anyone with practical experience of this could shed any light. Or someone who is better than me at interpreting government documents

The questions I have:

1. How do I know my "validity end date"? Since I currently use tax free childcare I've automatically been given an eligibility code for the 30 free hours which was issued back in November, but it doesn't have a specific end date, it just says I need to reconfirm my eligibility between 14 Feb and 15 March. Does that mean 15 March is my validity end date?

2). I don't know exactly when my employment will terminate, but potentially at the end of March. So this will be before my DS actually takes up his 30 funded hours, which would be due to start with the April term. Am I right in thinking that his eligibility to take up the place will rely on the outcome of the Feb-March reconfirmation process?

3. As part of the reconfirmation process there's a question "Will you earn at least £142.56 a week, before tax, for the next 3 months? How should I answer this if I am expecting to be made redundant during the 3 month period? Is the £142.56 an average figure? I earn a good salary in my current job so I could potentially meet the earnings requirements based on my earnings over the first part of the 3 month period, even if my income subsequently dropped to zero.

4. If my next reconfirmation window is 14 Feb to 15 March, when will the one after that be? Does it depend on the actual date I complete the reconfirmation process in Feb-March? From the table in the document linked above, I think it's saying that if we reconfirmed and became ineligible after 27 May the grace period would extend to 31 December, whereas if we reconfirmed before 26 May it would only run until 31 August.

Sorry, I can't be more helpful but the £142.56 is in regards to eligibility. You have to be earning at least the equivalent of 16 hours per week at minimum wage to be entitled to 30 hours.
It's based on every week, not what you have earned earlier in the year I think.
Maybe speak to the nursery, they may know more about the criteria?

Thanks for the response @Danikm151.

With the £142/week I understand that this is based on income going forward, but I don't understand how it works in my situation when my income is expected to drop to zero part way through the 3 month period.

So for example (not my actual income) imagine I earned £5000 in month 1, and then nothing in months 2 and 3, do I still qualify? £142/week is around £1858 over a three month period if averaged out.

I'm not too sure sorry but I know with claiming childcare costs from UC/WTC there is a 4 week grace period afterwards.
Have you started looking for work so you can effectively walk into another job once your current one ends?

I would call your LA as they administer payments to settings. Normally if you had started you definetly get the grace period of 3 months.

There is a grace period, precisely for this type of situation.

Could you work freelance or part time while looking for another permanent job, to fulfill the income requirements?