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Original poster

What's happening with the free 30 hours?

33 replies

drspouse · 16/01/2017 13:49

I just saw something saying they are supposed to be starting in September this year but I've seen nothing confirming this - does anyone know about eligibility, how you apply etc., are all nurseries offering 15 hours, obliged to offer 30 hours? What about childminders?

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HSMMaCM · 16/01/2017 16:55

The government haven't given childcare providers enough details for them to offer places yet. Nurseries, pre schools and childminders can choose whether to offer 0-30 hours. I offer 15 hours, but haven't yet decided about 30 hours yet.

Original poster
drspouse · 16/01/2017 18:54

How very helpful - not.

OP posts:
Original poster
drspouse · 16/01/2017 18:54

How very helpful - not.

OP posts:
Original poster
drspouse · 16/01/2017 18:55

Didn't mean to post twice! I mean not helpful of the government.

OP posts:
Whatthefreakinwhatnow · 16/01/2017 18:57

I doubt many will offer it tbh. Family members own a nursery and one is a CM- The council give them almost £1.50 an hour less than their rate for the 15 hours, so they are running at a loss when the children do these hours, they can only afford to stsy open because parents pay to do the rest of the week.

Don't blame the childcare providers, blame the council for not paying a decent rate you subsidise you!

Original poster
drspouse · 16/01/2017 21:18

Not blaming them at all! I wasn't sure if the lack of information meant nobody was offering the hours or that the final arrangements hadn't been settled.

OP posts:
littleducks · 16/01/2017 21:21

I live near a trial area and am just a little bit envious of those over the border. The borough I work in had forms for 30 hour Mainstream school nursery places of 30 hours with criteria.

But my borough and ds' nursery have no idea and only just sent out a consultation about it

Doglikeafox · 25/01/2017 16:14

It is really unhelpful isn't itSad
I'm a childminder too and I offer 15 hours but I have had lots of parents asking me if I will offer 30... which I cannot answer.
Currently, the rate that the government pays is £1.20 an hour less than what I would normally charge, so can be up to £15 a day lessSad
I have three mindees who are all 2 and a half so will all turn 3 within a few months of each other so financially it is going to be a massive hit Sad

BumbleBeesNursery · 27/01/2017 23:53

The information we have received is that the parent(s) need to be working more than 16 hours a week and have an income less than £100,000.
The final draft hasn't been released yet

Hope this helps

EvieSparkles0x · 31/01/2017 15:24

Wait what is it not rolled out yet?! Or do I just happen to be in a tiral area, didn't think so?! The nurseries I'm looking at both mention 30 hours funding for 3 and 4 year olds. I think they mention limited availability.

I do think they are starting at different times in different regions right? September 2017 is just the earliest they are doing it.

BumbleBeesNursery · 31/01/2017 21:04

As far as I am aware there are several authorities that are testing this service. Sadly Bumble Bees Nursery falls under Birmingham and Solihull councils and neither offer such until Autumn this year. We are now offering placements for the new 30 hour funding ready for when this starts in September

Dinnafash · 31/01/2017 21:22

There are six (I think) LA's who are trialling it now. It is then going to be brought in over the rest of the country from September 2017.

To qualify both parents must be working at least 16 hours a week and earn less than £100,000 a year each. In single parent families the lone parent must meet these criteria.
Parents will need to apply online to HMRC and will need to renew their claim every three months to continue to be eligible. I believe this is going to be introduced during the summer term ready for September.
Providers won't have to offer the extra hours.

BumbleBeesNursery · 31/01/2017 22:35

An EYC informed us that they were under the belief that if a parent/guardian originally eligible for the 30 hrs if circumstances alter they have 4 weeks over run (not unlike working tax credit) before their entitlement stops.
We're interested on how this develops. As it stands at the moment we will be offering this and are currently make provisions for such.

snozzlemaid · 31/01/2017 22:54

Yes. There is going to be a grace period in those circumstances so the extra funding won't stop immediately. AFAIK the length of this hasn't been agreed and may be up to individual LAs to decide for their own area, working within guidelines given by DfE.

vj32 · 02/02/2017 17:30

My sons nursery wont confirm that they can offer him his 15 hours because of this. Another local nursery have confirmed to me it is not clear if they are allowed to continue to offer only 15 or if its all or nothing. If the council wont compromise then lots of children will not get any funded hours in my area. I'm really shocked this has got this far, it was never thought through and is just another example of trying to buy votes and benefiting a wealthier minority at the expense of everyone else.

Dinnafash · 02/02/2017 20:55

I'm pretty sure they can only offer 15. Providers are not supposed to confirm the extra hours for a child until parents have given them their code and they have verified they are entitled to the extra hours.
I agree wholeheartedly vj32. This was used to gain votes at the last general election and was not thought through at all.
There are many better ways they could have improved this early years funding.

fruitpastille · 02/02/2017 21:18

I work just under 16 hours but my childminder had info that said if you earned the equivalent of 16 hours minimum wage then you would still be eligible. Website is useful...
www.pacey.org.uk/news-and-views/news/archive/2016-news/april-2016/30-hours-update-faqs-on-the-free-childcare-extend/

Dinnafash · 02/02/2017 21:26

Yes, you need to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours at minimum wage.

AllTheGlitters · 02/02/2017 23:40

It's such a shame it's so misleading, I'll be so disappointed if it doesn't come through as it should for most parents. I emailed my dream nursery for DD about this, and all they said was they don't have enough information yet and so can't confirm how the hours will be allocated. We were relying on this to not be crippled by childcare costs :(

Dinnafash · 03/02/2017 07:43

No providers are going to be able to confirm the extra hours for anyone until the summer term when the online application system for parents is up and running.

BumbleBeesNursery · 03/02/2017 09:10

We agree. We are provisionally offering places for the Autumn term based on the current criteria, however subject to confirmation. Our nurseries are under different authorities, we are aware that one of the authorities will use an online system but not sure about the other.

ExplodedCloud · 03/02/2017 09:23

I can't believe the criteria mentioned above! Under those rules my dc would have been eligible and we were in no need of help. Losing the provision because the extra hours made it impossible for them to run the business would have been a problem. £100k is far too high.

AllTheGlitters · 03/02/2017 09:27

BumbleBees for your provisional offers, are you putting constraints on how parents can use the 30 hours? I.e. regarding the 15 hours funding available, we were hoping to send DD to 3 x 5 hour mornings a week for 38 weeks of the year but can only send her for 2 morning sessions all year. Do you think this will be the case with the 30 hours too? :)

Sorry if I sounded like I was blaming the nurseries for it sounding unreliable, I was disappointed with the government for not providing enough so that nurseries won't have a problem offering it to all 3 and 4 year olds as intended!

Original poster
drspouse · 03/02/2017 09:33

Allthe the Pacey document linked to says they will no be allowed to do that.

OP posts:
BumbleBeesNursery · 03/02/2017 13:10

We endeavour to be as flexible as possible. We offer am,pm and day(s) for the 15 hour grants. For am children this can start from 8am, we even have children starting at 10am. We tailor our staff shift patterns to (where possible) meeting the parents/guardians needs. Needless to say there are limitations however this is a requirement in today's childcare.
May I say that each setting and their limitations are different.