FT mom and truly lost (nanny & free child care hours?)

[Iz91]

Hi just wondering if anyone can help explain how exactly this works? We are entitled to the 15 hours of free child care once my mat leave ends and little one is officially 9 months next week, but with my pp anxiety still gnawing at the frays of my mental health, I truly can not bear the thought of nurseries yet.

We are considering the nanny route and can subsidise some costs towards this if need be and if we need more then the 15 hours but as things stand and with family helping out we can probably make due on the 15 free hours alone. That being said we have the code from the gov website and I naively thought initially it was just a matter of giving this code to the nanny we choose to hire (as long as they are ofsted registered) and they can claim pay from their side of things?

Now I’ve read we might be seen as employers and need to payout the nanny and perhaps hire out a service for this to do the HMRC bit and basically I’m just lost now. I’m wondering if we are even allowed to use the 15 free hours for a nanny since they can have variable rates and if so what exactly this entails? I was fully prepared to pay out of pocket to just have family help out until LO is able to communicate at-least and/or my anxiety hopefully settles but would obviously appreciate any assistance we can get! I just need help figuring out the steps we have to take now to use our 15 hours of childcare to possibly fund a nanny and if there is anything I need to be mindful of?

Nannies can't accept funded childcare hours, only nurseries and childminders.

Your baby will be eligible after Easter based on them turning 9 months next week.

https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/15-and-30-hours-childcare-support/faqs

See quite a long way down this page - nannies are not eligible for the 15/30hrs funding (although in some circumstances i believe they can accept taxfree childcare payments).

As pp have said, you won't be eligible until next term starts. DD2 is 9months in a couple of days and I go back to work in a couple of weeks. We'll have 2.5months of paying the full invoice before her hours kick in from 1st April.

Also bear in mind it’s 15 hours per term time week. So if you need the childcare for the whole year then it averages out at about 11 hours a week.

As PP said, you probably won’t get the hours till after Easter now as you become eligible the term after your little one turns 9 months.

You cannot use funding with a nanny. You can use Tax Free Childcare scheme with a registered nanny.

You would an employer of a nanny, so need to do PAYE, pension scheme etc. You are likely wanting consistency, not using several different people and booking them on an ad-hoc basis like you would an evening babysitter.

I do a permanent nanny role which is one day a week and that is employment. If it was random days, then it may fit with self employment but you are not likely to want random days and you are not likely to find a nanny who wants to work random days. Both parties tend to want consistency, as does baby.

If you have a nanny you will be their employer. You're responsible for paying them properly plus employers NI and pension payments. You'd also pay over PAYE and NI to HMRC.

Ofsted Registered Nannie’s can be paid via tax free childcare but they don’t offer funded hours .
Funding is for education and is only 38 weeks per year eg term time .
Nannies don’t deliver the EYFS learning so can not offer funding .
Nannie pay rates are based on one child or family . Funding rates are based on nurseries and childminders caring for more than 1 child often several to one staff member .
Nannies earn £15-£20 per hour .
Funding may be stretched over more weeks , some childminders and nurseries stretch hour to include the weeks they are open . You would then get less than 15 hours per week.
You may need to pay for food , nappies and other consumables . You will need to pay for private hours if you want all
year childcare and not just term time.
Maybe look for a childminder.

Thanks everyone this has been so helpful honestly! I guess we are back to the original plan of family graciously helping out 😅

Gosh I feel silly for not having prepared for all of this properly! We originally budgeted for 9 months of mat leave fully expecting nursery to be the next step and it coinciding perfectly with mat leave ending, so replenished finances to fund any additional child care if need be but that we were sorted on help since we could do the 15hrs weekly 🫠

Just so I have this right when explaining to hubs, @Noodlesnotstrudels the criteria for the free child care hours isn’t just that the LO’s are 9 months but also that they are this age before the start of each term. So we are fully in charge of financing nursery/childminder if they’re 9 months happens right after term time irrespective of when our mat leave ends?

Again thanks everyone you’ve been incredibly helpful! x

That's right @Iz91 funding starts the term after they hit the required age.

And as pp said, it's 15 hours a week term time only. If you want it all year it's about 11 hours a week or just over.

Well you also have to return to work within 30 days of start of term and have applied for your code by the end if the previous term.

Why not have a look at some childminders?

You can use tax free childcare for a registered nanny (the government tops up 20% of the cost). Yes you would be an employer with all the responsibilities of an employer.

The 15 hours funded contribution to childcare is term time only and from the term after the eligible age is reached - so after the Easter holidays for you.

It can only be used with nurseries/pre-schools and childminders and is a contribution - it often doesn't cover the full cost and e.g. lunchtimes and food etc are often extra to pay.

Perhaps consider a childminder if funds don't stretch to a nanny without the 15hrs funding and you don't like the idea of nursery yet.

Yes that’s right, so you’ll be eligible for the funded hours after Easter. Be aware though that it isn’t actually 15 hours if you are doing year-round nursery, and often private nurseries will charge extra on top, and usually have set sessions which are longer than the funded hours each day so even with the funded hours you will likely be paying a large amount.

You cannot get a 1:1 nanny for 15 hours for free.

Minimum wage is £11.44ph and a nursery can have a minimum wage worker in charge of 3 under-2yo so that costs £3.81ph per child excluding the cost of buildings heating maintenance toys and consumables. The exact funding formula for the "free" hours varies but is not much more than that £3.81ph so most nurseries still make a loss on the "free" hours and have to find creative ways to make ends meet.

Even if you could use the free hours with a nanny it would be illegal to pay one so low. But that's not the reason - the reason is because the social element of spening time in a childcare setting with other children and watchef over by a professional with Early Years Education skills and knowledge gives any child a better start at school, and you don't get that with most nannies.

The 15 hours funded contribution to childcare is term time only

It doesn't have to be, @Iudncuewbccgrcb it can be stretched over the holidays too but that means you get fewer hours per week - about 11 hours.

Well it's worth pointing out that settings get to choose whether they offer stretched funding, they don't have to and parents cannot insist.

Yes that's right. My baby was breech and i wanted to have my csection at 39w, which would have been at the end of March, however due to Easter, I couldn't get booked in until after the start of April. So frustrating from the funded hours perspective! I didn't even end up having a csection in the end! 🙈

Have you been to visit any nurseries yet? I understand why you may feel nervous but when we sent DD1, the one we chose had such lovely members of staff, a great feel in the baby room, lovely garden area. I went part time (3 days a week) until she was 18months and then i was sure she was settled in etc, we increased her days. Alternatively you could look for childminder recommendations.

Maybe look at childminders - sort of a mix of nanny/nursery set up.

Relying on family members is stressful and leaves you with no real ability to demand/expect certain standards.

That also depends on what the provider offers they don't have to stretch

Yes totally.

If you'e concerned about costs, a nanny is not an option for one child.
If you need to go back to work, you'll need to contact as many childcare providers as possible for options. Either nurseries or childminders.

Plus contact work and see if you can reduce hours or go back gradually, use holiday.