15 hours free childcare between two nurseries

[MonchichiRyan]

I am wondering if parents are allowed to split the 15 hours free childcare between two nurseries. My son, who turns 3 next months, will be attending two nurseries soon, one at work and one near home. The work nursery is paid through salary sacrifice scheme, so I want to use the 15 hours free childcare to mostly pay for the nursery near home. Is it possible? How do I do it? By filling in a form?

Yes you can do this in theory if you are splitting the funding you just need to state the hours and the nursery that’s claiming them. However some nurserys do not share the funding with other providers plus they both need to be offering the hours either term time or all year round.

You can the use the childcare vouchers to pay for the additional hours you need.

There are some variations in the rules between local authorities but all those I’ve encountered have allowed parents to split funding between two childcare providers and I don’t know of anywhere nurseries can’t stop you doing this.

The only exception is that a state/LA-run nursery would get first dibs on the funding, and a PVI childcare provider would get the remainder.

The calculations can get a bit fiddling if one provider offers term-time funding and the other a stretched offer, but it can still be done (by either averaging the weekly hours or 'banking' hours for later use.)

You should sign a declaration/claim form at each setting. It is important to ensure both forms show the correct attendance and hours claimed at both settings. Any discrepancy can result in the LA suspending the whole funding, leaving you paying while they sort it out.

Thank you both. That means I do have a form to fill in, which is good.

That led to another question. DS is going to both nurseries, 2 days each. Can I use all 15 hours in one setting, instead of splitting them between two settings. I want to pay the work nursery solely by salary sacrifice scheme, and it'd be ideal if I can allocate all 15 hours to the new nursery. I ask because I was told the 15 hours need to be spread into 3 days at least. If this is true, it seems that I cannot put all 15 hours to one nursery. Am I right?

Nursery should give you a blank claim form for you to fill in and return. They then keep the form on site, in case they are audited by the LA.

In practice, a lot of nurseries fill the form in for you and just ask for a signature. So do make sure the details are correct before you sign.

You need to find out how each nursery is offering the funding. Most offer set times as funded sessions, so you can’t necessarily pick the precise times you want, and usually end up paying some sort of contribution.

Yes, you can use the funding just at one nursery and pay the other with your salary sacrifice scheme
Just make sure you tell the nursery not to claim the funding

As for the 3 days, it depends how the nurseries apply it
Where I work the funding can be stretched over the year meaning it’s more like 11 hours and not 15 a week
Will you not be able to claim the 30 hours?

You really need to check with your nursery and with your local authority.