Professionals

The links on this page are for people who work with children and young people, or are looking to start a career in childcare.

Capital funding

The Government have announced they will be providing £100 million of capital funding. This is based on £80 million for the expansion of the funded entitlements and £20 million for expansion of wraparound provision.

Individual local authority capital allocations were published on 30 November 2023. 80% of the allocation will be for expansion of the funded entitlements and 20% will be for expansion of wraparound provision.

More information about the criteria and how providers can apply for the funding will follow.

Wraparound care and extended funded childcare entitlement

The government is investing £289m to enable schools and local areas to set up wraparound childcare provision from 8am – 6pm.

Local authorities will be able to decide how best to use the grant funding to achieve the programme outcomes. This could include allocating funding to schools and/or PVIs, including childminders, to contribute to the start-up, expansion and running costs of provision, as well as costs for staffing, training, and resources.

Local authorities will be able to decide how to disperse the grant funding and will need to set out a transparent process for dispersing funding to childcare providers / schools and ensure robust funding agreements are in place.

Funding can be used to contribute towards running costs while demand is growing, before provision is made self-sustainable through parental payments, taking away any short-term financial risk to providers. This funding will be available to support you in your plans to ensure sufficient wraparound places for primary aged children and in response to the new entitlement for working parents of children aged from 9 months. The programme will run until 2026 and there will be opportunities to apply across the two years.

Leeds City Council are working through the development of an application process, including criteria and guidance which will be available shortly for registered early years providers and schools to apply.

An online application, guidance  and further details on how to apply will follow.
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Tax-free childcare

Tax-free childcare is for working families:

  • Including the self-employed, in the UK
  • Earning under £100k and an average of £167 per week (equal to 16 hours at the National Minimum or Living Wage) each over three months
  • Who aren't receiving Tax Credits, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers
  • With children aged 0-11 (or 0-16 if they have a disability)
  • For every £8 you pay into an online account, the government will add an extra £2, up to £2,000 per child per year

You can receive up to £2,000 per child per year - that's up to £500 every three months. If you have a child with a disability, you can receive up to £4,000 per child - that's up to £1,000 every three months.

You can use Tax-Free Childcare all year round to spend on regulated childcare, such as:

  • Childminders, nurseries and nannies
  • Before and after-school clubs and holiday clubs

For more information about how to use tax-free childcare, please see how to use Tax-Free Childcare.

To apply for tax-free childcare, visit GOV.UK.