Under the Childcare Offer for Wales, you could claim up to 30 hours of early education and childcare in Wales per week, for up to 48 weeks of the year.
The scheme aims to make life a bit easier for parents/carers by providing support with childcare costs.
The Childcare Offer is open to any family living in the Caerphilly county borough if they meet the following eligibility criteria:
Definitions
A parent includes guardians, step-parents, and live-in partners within the child’s household – all of whom will need to meet the eligibility criteria in order for that child to be able to take up the Offer. A working parent can be a parent who is either employed or self-employed. This includes those who are on Apprenticeships, zero hours contracts and those who are newly self-employed. By minimum earnings criteria we mean that they must earn, on average, the equivalent of at least 16 hours per week at the relevant minimum wage applicable to them. Earnings must not exceed £100,000 per annum per parent. A parent in education or training can be a parent who is either:
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From September 2022, parents/guardians who are in education or training and meet the eligibility criteria will be able to access the Childcare Offer.
Families in the following situations will still be eligible to access the Offer where:
Single parents and families where both parents are in receipt of the above benefits will not be able to access the Offer.
If custody is not shared equally:
If custody is shared equally:
If you think you are eligible, you must complete an application form. The Early Years Hub Team will check whether you are eligible and send you an email confirming the outcome of your application.
From the term following their 3rd birthday, children could be entitled to up to 20 hours of government funded childcare. This is in addition to the 10 hours already provided by their part-time Foundation Phase place and up to 30 hours of childcare during the school holidays.
Applicants are able to apply up to 90 days before the start of their eligible term.
Child’s date of birth | When can my child access the Childcare Offer?* |
1 September 2018 to 31 December 2018 | From the Spring Term 2022 to the Summer Term 2023
(4 January 2022 to end August 2023) |
1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019 | From the Summer Term 2022 to the Summer Term 2023
(25 April 2022 to end August 2023) |
1 April 2019 to 31 August 2019 | From the Autumn Term 2022 to the Summer Term 2023
(beginning September 2022 to end August 2023) |
1 September 2019 to 31 December 2019 | From the Spring Term 2023 to the Summer Term 2024
(9 January 2023 to end August 2024) |
1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020 | From the Summer Term 2023 to the Summer Term 2024
(17 April 2023 to end August 2024) |
1 April 2020 to 31 August 2020 | From the Autumn Term 2023 to the Summer Term 2024
(4 September 2023 to end August 2024) |
Please note: Funding only starts after confirmed completion of both the Application and Individual Child Placement processes. Payment is not back dated to start of term.
The Childcare Offer New National Digital Service is now live.
In the Caerphilly county borough, under the previous Childcare Offer process, parents could claim up to 20 hours of childcare in addition to a standard 10 hours of Early Years Education provision.
However, an evaluation of Early Years Education provision in the county borough showed that many providers offer more than 10 hours of Early Years Education. In fact, our providers offer on average 13.5 hours of Early Years Education. This means that some parents were receiving more than the 30 hours in total. For example, 15 hours of Early Years Education plus 20 hours of Childcare = 35 hours.
The new Childcare Offer National Digital System does not allow for this, and parents can only claim the maximum of 30 hours.
This is calculated as follows:
Please note:
If you have any further question, please contact us.
You must report any changes to your circumstances which may affect your eligibility. Simply login to your Government Gateway account and select the link ‘a change to your details’. Make your change(s) via the summary screen and click on the ‘Submit’ button when done.
You will need report if you and/or the second adult living in the household:
You do not need to report that you are on maternity, paternity or adoption leave but are still employed as this does not affect your eligibility.
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