11. Early Years National Funding Formula
Three and four year olds
| Provider | Sector base rate for 3 and 4 year olds |
| Maintained nursery | £3.68 |
| Independent school | £3.68 |
|
Children's centre daycare |
£3.68 |
| Private day nursery | £3.68 |
| Pre-school/playgroup | £3.68 |
| Childminder | £3.68 |
Additional funding supplements are designed to meet national and local objectives. A deprivation supplement is required by legislation to support the Government’s objectives of narrowing the gap between children from different backgrounds and eradicating child poverty.
| Supplement | Cost (£) | Eligibility criteria |
| Deprivation | 20p | Children in 30% most deprived post codes |
| Quality | 20p | PVI settings with 70% of staff qualified to level 3 (rounded up to the nearest 10) |
| EYPP | 53p per hour per child | Low income families. Looked after by the LA for at least one day, adopted from care, have a special guardianship or subject to a child arrangement order. |
Check eligibility with the Deprivation Postcode Checker.
Two year olds
| Targeted entitlement | Eligibility criteria | Cost (£) |
| Deprivation | Free school meal eligibility, moving to Universal Credit 2013/14
Looked after child (LAC) |
Included in base rate (£5.04) |
| Quality setting/Childminder quality | Ofsted rating ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ or equivalent for the PVI sector (effective of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile outcome) Childminder qualified to level 3 |
Included in base rate (£5.04) |
Payment timetables
Providers must adhere to the key submission dates so that grant payments can be processed on time.
Charging policy
The charging policy will be reviewed annually and will be distributed to providers at the beginning of each financial year.
Charges (administration fees) will be applied in line with the policy, to any provider who does not meet agreed deadlines and actions as per the grant conditions; also, where any additional work is incurred due to inaccurate or late returns from the provider. Charges may also be applied for any bespoke advice and consultation.
Administration fees
Administration charges will be applied if a provider fails to submit their returns on time.
A £25 charge will apply for:
- Late processing of grant claims for three and four year olds estimates and actuals
- Late processing of grant claims for two year olds that requires an adjusted payment
In addition, there will also be a £25 charge for:
- Late returns for: business health checks, FTE occupancy calculator, census data
- Return grant compliance inspection visits
- Any site visits or appointments outside of the usual standard
Grant clawback
The Council may clawback early education entitlement grant from the provider in the following circumstances:
- Where a funded child has regularly not met the 85% attendance target and there is no agreed reason, or explanation.
- Where there is evidence of a child having been double funded
- Where an over claim in hours has been submitted
- If any discrepancies are identified at inspection
- When a child’s hours have reduced midterm but full hours have been claimed
Grant payments may be withheld if a provider:
- Is not regularly updating their business information on the online portal.
- Fails to submit the Business Health Check, FTE occupancy calculator or Census data by the required deadline