How easy to register as an early years provider?

[summerlovingvibes]

My childminder currently doesn't accept early years funding.
Not sure why, but she just doesn't.
Is it complicated to become one? Is there a reason she won't? What processes do you have to do to register? Is it faff?

Hoping i can sway her in light of the new budget suggestion... as it will save us £££.

So trying to gather info in advance of asking her again and hopefully pointing her in the right direction to register...

It's a faff to claim. It's a faff if you're on UC as you get paid termly so lose your UC. It's a faff if a parent leaves halfway through the term as the nursery claims the whole term.

Plus depending on your area, the funding is about half her usual fees. If all the children are funded, she won't be able to afford it.

She probably doesn’t accept funding as the whole supposed ‘free’ hours are actually severely underfunded. Settings do not get paid their usual hourly rate and are struggling to stay open.

it’s not difficult to register but there is extra paperwork and hoops to jump through (all of this for the pittance government pays)

the new budget suggestion is just going to make things worse.

The only way you may sway her is if you offer to pay a club tray contribution to essentially top up what the government pays. However, the childminder may not be offering funded hours because she doesn’t agree with the whole system. You really need to have a chat with her

Ok thanks. I obviously want her to get paid her usual hourly amount and am happy to top up, but I can see from her point of view that if there's extra paperwork / hoops and other people are just willing to pay as normal then there's not really any incentive for her.

You can't topup. That is part of the problem. If Government made it £x off childcare bill rather than y hours, then that may be workable by providers.

Just read my comment and saw the typo. It should have said offer to pay a voluntary contribution (not club tray contribution 🤦‍♀️). My local authority allow this but it is very much voluntary and we can’t make it a condition of offering a place. We have to offer it free at the point if delivery. If parents choose to voluntary contribute however there’s no problem. I feel this may change going forwards (and not in favour of the settings)though as this isn’t reflected across the country.

My childminder had to drop something at my house earlier (my DD isn't with her today), and was in a bit of a pickle. Said she's going to have to start offering it otherwise she'll lose her business as people will go elsewhere. So she's going to get the pre- school who she works closely with help her out with the application to register etc but will have to look at some kind of top up / voluntary contribution.

No idea what the government pay, apparently they are going to do a 30% increase in payments? My CM charges £4.20ph so will she be covered? I told her i would be more than happy to pay a "voluntary" top up if it means it's feasible for her .

It's not hard to register to provide funding so not sure why she needs help from the preschool. She literally needs to phone her local early years team at the local authority and they will send all the paperwork.

The funding rate varies in different areas but I'm sure she will be relieved that you would pay the difference as the main reason childcare providers do not offer funded places is because the local authority often don't pay anywhere near a provider's hourly rate so to they work at a loss for every single funded child.

“No idea what the government pay, apparently they are going to do a 30% increase in payments”

it’s yet to be determined what this means in practice

The 30% increase or thereabouts is going to mean fuck all, you're talking an increase of pennies rather than pounds.

Also, OP, none of the changes will come in immediately - how old is your DD?

The lowest level of hourly funding for 23/24 is £4.87 in England.

This will only be the case if they add to the funding at the 30% that’s been promised. We shall see though. It also depends on how much the local authority decides to cream off the top

Hi, I believe that’s the rate published in Feb

See the excel sheet. But I might be wrong (I'm nota provider, just a googler!)

www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-funding-2023-to-2024

And the LA can't take more than 5%.

For summer term this year I’m getting well below that amount. Some areas barely receive £4

There is a group on Facebook called ‘Champagne nurseries on lemonade funding’ and providers there have listed their funding rates. Our LA takes as much as it can so takes 5%. If they paid settings directly it would be hugely beneficial.

Oh, that;s rubbish, sorry :-(

It would be better if we received the full amount to be honest. 5% doesn’t sound like a lot but in real monetary value it all adds up

I'd like to contradict that. As a childminder in Suffolk, my funding hours will be paid at £4.60 an hour for 2023/24. We are one of the lowest county's in the country.

Sorry, that’s crap. I don’t know why the spreadsheet says minimum of £4.87 and then some are getting less :-(

We get £4.23 per hour. My hourly rate is £5 per hour. I do funding & the paperwork isn't too bad but I do ask for top up....this covers outings, food, baby wipes, craft resources etc. all of my parents have been happy to pay the difference as they are still saving overall.
I think different authorities pay in different ways. Ours pays 70% at the start of the term then the rest towards the end.

I'm in Trafford.

The parent can make a voluntary contribution for consumables and outings it just must be voluntary.

You are looking at the figure the government pay the local authority they can take a percentage to cover administration then decide on weightings like children with SEND. Schools tend to get more too.