Changing childminder and transferring free hours

[saladbee]

Hi all, I’d like to switch my son’s childminder in the coming weeks. We have been using the 30 free hours for working parents with the current childminder.
we have a 2 week notice period with the current childminder and will look to start with the new one straight after. Is it possible to transfer the funding over now or is it only at the start of a term? What are the terms for these purposes?
I saw online that different local authorities have different rules on this. My old and new childminder are in different local authority areas. Do I have to check what the rules are for my current childminder’s local authority?
Any guidance / advice from past experiences will be super helpful.

Yes you’d need to check the rules as it could be costly to get it wrong. In my area there is no obligation for the childminder to repay the funding they have received if you leave mid “term” as they get paid the entire term upfront into their bank account based on “head count” on a certain day.

thank you- yes it seems to be the same in my area. I can ask the childminder to transfer the money to the new provider but they are not obligated to. It seems pretty bizarre that a childcare provider can keep that chunk of money if they wish when they are not providing any service for it but that seems to be the case.

Not really, she can't fill that end of term now so she would be unpaid until January without it. Hopefully she will amend her termination period after this experience so it doesn't happen again.

If it’s a provider in a new funding area you might be in luck, but it depends if the new one can still claim for the rest of this term or if their deadline has passed for new claims. You would be best to ask them what the rules are for your area.

They can keep the money because this then allows them to find more time to find work, most childminders require more than two weeks notice.