Claiming Early Education Funding Guidance Notes
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Claiming Early Education
Funding
Guidance Notes
Independent, Private and Voluntary Providers
(including Academies and Childminders) claiming Early
Education Funding for 2, 3 and 4 year olds from
Oxfordshire County Council
April 2019 - March 2020
IMPORTANT - Please read these guidance notes carefully. If you have
any queries regarding the guidance please do not hesitate to contact us.
Early Education Funding Team
Access to Learning
County Hall – Fourth Floor
New Road
Oxford
OX1 1ND
Email: earlyeducation@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Tel: 01865 894811
Summer 2019 Page 1 of 17Contents HOW TO USE THE GUIDANCE NOTES ........................................................................................ 3 1 APPROVED EARLY EDUCATION FUNDING PROVIDERS ................................................ 3 2 EARLY YEARS PROVIDER PORTAL ...................................................................................... 4 3 EARLY EDUCATION FUNDING RATES AND FUNDED WEEKS FOR 2018/19 FINANCIAL YEAR.............................................................................................................................. 6 4 TWO-YEAR-OLD FUNDING ELIGIBILITY ............................................................................ 7 4.1 CONFIRMING ELIGIBILITY FOR TWO-YEAR-OLD FUNDING ..................................................... 7 5 30 HOURS EXTENDED ENTITLEMENT ................................................................................. 9 5.1 AUDIT DATES AND GRACE PERIODS............................................................................................. 10 6 CLAIMING EARLY EDUCATION FUNDING ....................................................................... 10 6.1 INDICATIVE BUDGET .................................................................................................................. 10 6.2 ESTIMATED PAYMENT................................................................................................................ 11 6.3 HEADCOUNT ACTUAL TASK AND ASSOCIATED PAYMENT ...................................................... 11 6.4 AMENDMENT TASK AND ASSOCIATED ADJUSTMENT PAYMENT............................................. 12 6.5 PARENT DECLARATION FORMS................................................................................................. 12 6.6 STRETCHED FUNDING ................................................................................................................ 12 6.7 ADMINISTRATIVE CHARGE ........................................................................................................ 13 7 EARLY YEARS PUPIL PREMIUM (EYPP) AND DEPRIVATION SUPPLEMENT ......... 13 7.1 PROCEDURE FOR CLAIMING EYPP........................................................................................... 13 8 DISABILITY ACCESS FUNDING (DAF) ................................................................................. 14 9 SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS (SEN)............................................................................... 14 10 STATEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... 15 11 LOCAL AUTHORITY AUDIT PROCESS ............................................................................. 15 12 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .................................................................................... 16 13 USEFUL CONTACT INFORMATION ................................................................................... 18 Summer 2019 Page 2 of 17
How to use the Guidance Notes
These notes outline the claims and payments process for Private, Voluntary and
Independent providers (including academies) who have access to the Early Years
Head Count Portal.
Prior to the start of each term, the following documents will be available on
http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/formsandguidance. There are also links to this
webpage within the Provider Portal.
• Funding Timeline
• Parent Declaration
• Privacy Notice
• When is my Child Eligible table
• Guide on valid 30 hour code dates
These notes should be read in conjunction with the following guidance notes for
using the Early Years Provider Portal. These are on the same web page.
• Head Count Portal Guidance Notes
• 2-Year-Old Funding Provider Portal Guidance Notes
• Thirty Hour Checks Portal Guidance Notes
• Disability Access Funding Portal Guidance Notes
• SEN Inclusion Funding Portal Guidance Notes
• Early Years Pupil Premium Portal Guidance Notes
• Self Update Portal Guidance Notes
These guidance notes are the first place you should look for help when completing
claims through the Provider Portal.
Where the word ‘parent’ is used in this document it refers to parents and caregivers
who have a legal responsibility for a child accessing Early Education Funding.
This form is best read on a computer as it contains hyperlinks to other important
documents. Our forms are available in a larger font upon request. Please call the
Early Education Funding Team on: 01865 894811 (between 8:30 am and 4:30pm).
1 Approved Early Education Funding Providers
The free entitlement is delivered in Oxfordshire by a range of providers to suit the
diverse needs of parents/carers and children. Private and voluntary providers must
be registered with Ofsted; childminders with Ofsted or a childminding agency;
academies and independent schools must be registered with the Secretary of State
and all providers must be registered with Oxfordshire County Council to be included
in the Approved Early Education Providers list.
Parents can search for approved Early Education funded providers through the
Oxfordshire Family Information Service Directory
Summer 2019 Page 3 of 17Providers in the Early Education Funding Scheme must comply with the Early
Education Funding Terms and Conditions
and will reaffirm this agreement every time they make a funding claim through the
provider declaration.
Providers must inform the Local Authority immediately whenever there is a change in
their circumstances and these include but are not limited to:
• A change in ownership, governance or premises.
• A change to the name or address of the contact responsible for the free early
education funding administration.
• A change in bank details.
• A change in their Ofsted inspection grade or Ofsted number
• If you are closing
• https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/business/information-providers/childrens-
services-providers/business-and-funding-childcare-providers/early-education-
fund/joining-and-leaving-scheme
Where such a change results in a new provider they will need to re-register with
Ofsted and hence with the Local Authority for the purposes of Early Education
Funding. Providers must give the local authority reasonable notice of these changes,
especially if a payment is due to be made.
Funding for two-year-olds is targeted at those families/children meeting specific
criteria (see 4.2). The Government’s intention is that early education for two year-
olds is delivered by providers who have achieved an overall rating of ‘outstanding’ or
‘good’ in their most recent Ofsted inspection report. Therefore, in Oxfordshire we
would not automatically agree to fund two-year-olds in a provision that had an Ofsted
‘requires improvement’ at their last inspection. Providers that are newly registered
with Ofsted can be accepted to take funded 2s. However, if the provider has recently
re-registered with Ofsted and their previous judgement was less than good, they will
not automatically be approved to take funded 2s.
All Early Education Funding approved providers can choose whether they deliver the
30 hour extended funding which will be bound by the same terms and conditions of
the universal 15 hour funding.
2 Early Years Provider Portal
The Early Years Provider Portal is a self-service facility that must be used by all
Providers to check eligibility for all funding (two year olds and 30 hours) and to
submit their termly funding claim to the Council for two, three and four year olds.
This is the link:
https://myoneproviderportallive.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ProviderPortal_LIVE/Account/Acc
ount/Login
Summer 2019 Page 4 of 17The Provider Portal has five main functions
Two year old funding – Allows you to:
• Assist parent to submit online applications to check if they
are eligible for the two-year-old funding
• Search on Assisted Applications previously made
• Make a Placement Notification to allocate a child to your
provision
For more information please see the 2 Year Old Funding
Provider Portal Guidance Notes
Headcount - Allows you to:
• Add new children to your provision
• Submit your termly claim by adding weeks and hours per
child
• Amend your information right up to the headcount deadline
• Clicking an online declaration
For more information, please see the Headcount Provider Portal
Guidance Notes
30 hours Free Childcare - Allows you to:
• Validate 30 hours eligibility codes
• View previous validation checks
• Review ‘Eligible to’ and ‘Eligible from’ dates and ‘Grace
periods’ via the Dashboard
For more information, please see the Provider Portal Guidance -
Extended Hours Checking System notes.
Disability Access Funding - Allows you to:
• Claim Disability Access Funding for any child in receipt of
Disability Living Allowance
For more information, please see the Provider Portal Guidance -
Disability Access Funding notes.
Self Update - Allows you to:
• Update some of your contact details
• Update notes on your offer
• Send us your census information in January
For more information, please see the Provider Portal Guidance –
Self Update notes.
Summer 2019 Page 5 of 173 Early Education Funding Rates and Funded Weeks for
2018/19 Financial Year
The base rates for funded early education for the financial year 2019-20 are
confirmed as follows:
Two-Year-olds
• All providers taking funded two-year-olds £5.52 per hour
Three / four-year-olds
• Nursery classes in Academies: £4.04 per hour
• Private/Voluntary/Independent Providers (including childminders):
• £4.04 per hour
The three and four-year-old funding rate is the same for the universal entitlement (up
to 15 hours per week) and the extended entitlement (up to 30 hours per week).
38 Funded Weeks Per Financial Year
• Summer Term 12 Weeks
• Autumn Term 14 Weeks
• Spring Term 12 Weeks
Providers offering the funding over 38 weeks (i.e. not stretching the funded hours)
are expected to follow the school term time calendar as a minimum.
The term dates for the coming academic year, shown below, follow the pattern for
school term dates. There are an additional 5 ‘inset’ days which reduces the weeks
funded to 38 weeks. You may wish to make it more convenient for parents and follow
your local school in planning these days. Please inform parents which days are inset
days and that you are open for the remaining times, otherwise we will deduct any
missing weeks from your payment.
Given that nurseries can take these days whenever they want, we still have to pay
your funds based on 14 weeks for autumn term and 12 weeks for spring and
summer terms. Over the course of the year this will balance out as 38 weeks.
It is important that the provider can demonstrate that they offered the funding over
the full 38 weeks (190 days) if they have deviated from the Oxfordshire school
calendar.
Please note that the 6th May 2019 bank holiday is not included in the count of days.
Number of
Term Start Date End date days Weeks Paid as
Autumn 04/09/2018 19/10/2018 34
14 weeks 14
Autumn 29/10/2018 21/12/2018 40 74 4 days weeks
Spring 07/01/2019 15/02/2019 30
12
Spring 25/02/2019 05/04/2019 30 60 12 weeks weeks
Summer 2019 Page 6 of 17Summer 23/04/2019 24/05/2019 23
12 weeks 12
Summer 03/06/2019 24/07/2019 38 61 1 day weeks
Number or 38
Weeks 39 weeks
To encourage maximum flexibility for parents to access the 30 hours extended
entitlement, some providers may only be open for a limited number of weeks per
year (e.g. School Holiday Play Schemes). These providers can still claim the funding
but would need to work in partnership with other providers to deliver the full offer.
4 Two-Year-Old Funding Eligibility
If a parent(s) claims one of the following:
Economic
1. Income Support
2. Income-based Job Seekers' Allowance (JSA)
3. Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
4. Universal Credit - if you and your partner have a combined income
from work of less than £15,400 a year after tax
5. the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you
stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
6. Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
7. The Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
8. tax credits and they have an annual income of under £16,190 before
tax
Non-Economic
1. They have a current statement of special educational needs or an
education, health and care plan
2. They attract Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
3. They are looked after by their local authority or they have left care
through special guardianship or an adoption or residence order
4.1 Confirming Eligibility for Two-Year-Old Funding
To be eligible for the Two-Year-Old Funding, parents must be in receipt of a valid
TYF reference number.
The TYF code can be obtained in the following ways
• Citizen Portal (www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/twoyearoldfunding) – parents can
go online to check their eligibility
• Via the Family Information Service 01865 323332, who can perform an
assisted application for parents over the phone
Summer 2019 Page 7 of 17• Providers with access to the Provider Portal can complete assisted
applications (see 2-Year-Old Funding Provider Portal Guidance Notes)
Once a family has applied for the funding via one of the methods above, they will
receive a 15-digit reference number starting with a ‘TYF’, e.g. TYF-0218-71L8VZF7
Parents should give 0 this reference number when arranging their funded place.
Once a child has been confirmed eligible via the online system, the child will remain
eligible for funding until they qualify for universal funding (the term following their
third birthday) regardless of when or where they take up their place.
Postcard Eligibility: The Department for Education periodically issues local
authorities with the names and addresses of parents who are eligible for the two year
old funding. Oxfordshire County Council will use this information to send these
parents a postcard that confirms their eligibility for the funding, but for a limited
period. The postcards will have an eligibility code printed on them (a 7-digit reference
number). These must be presented before the expiry date to the provider, who must
use the information on the postcard to submit an assisted application for the parent.
If the eligibility check comes back as not found/not eligible, Oxfordshire County
Council will honour the family’s eligibility as long as the provider appeals via the non-
economic route or clicks the “Request Help” button following the ineligible notification
and uses the text box to enter the parent’s postcard code. All post card applications
need to be added to the portal before the postcard expiry date. For more
information, please see 2 Year Old Funding Provider Portal Guidance Notes.
All new starters must have their place approved via a Placement Request on the two
year old portal in order to claim funding. By completing a Placement Request, the
child will automatically appear on the provider’s next headcount task. If a placement
request is submitted after the headcount task has been issued, the child will not
automatically appear in the provider’s headcount task, and then the provider must
add the child to the headcount using the “add child” button. The system should then
find the child and ask you to confirm the match. Only funded two year olds who have
had a placement request submitted should be added to the headcount. If you add a
child without submitting a placement request there is the possibility of starting a child
who is not eligible and you will not receive funding.
Please note that TYF numbers are generated for every application for two-year-old
funding, including those that return an ineligible result. In order to avoid starting a
child who is not eligible for funding, please complete the Placement Request for the
child to confirm their eligibility
When a 2-Year-Old Funded Child Leaves Your Setting
When a funded 2-year-old leaves your setting, as well as adding an end date to your
Actual or Amendment Headcount Task you must complete a Child Left Setting Form
(as per clause 9.3 in the Terms & Conditions).
The Child Left Setting form can be found on the web page
http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/formsandguidance
Oxfordshire County Council use this information to offer assistance to families in
finding alternative provision as part of our safeguarding duties.
Summer 2019 Page 8 of 175 30 Hours Extended Entitlement
The Government has doubled the amount of free childcare available for eligible
working parents of three and four year olds from 15 hours per week to 30 hours per
week for 38 weeks of the year. The universal entitlement for all 3 and 4 year olds will
continue to be 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year (i.e. 570 hours). The
extended entitlement provides an additional 15 hours of free childcare for 38 weeks
of the year for children where parents are eligible (1140 hours per year in total).
30 hours eligibility is confirmed through HMRC and not Oxfordshire County Council.
Parents can check their eligibility through the Childcare Choices website
https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Parents who need assistance to apply, or who do not have access to the internet,
can call the Childcare Services Customer Interaction Centre on 0300 123 4097 and
apply over the phone. Parents who complete their original application over the
phone will need to phone the Customer Interaction Centre to reconfirm their
eligibility. We advise parents to note down the date, time and name of the advisor
they speak with.
Please advise parents that before they start their application, both parents (or a lone
parent) will need their
• National Insurance number
• if self-employed, their Unique Taxpayer Reference
• the date they started, or are due to start work
• details of any other government support they get
To register an account a parent will also need a copy of their passport, a payslip or
P60.
If a parent is eligible for the 30 hours free childcare they will receive an 11-digit
eligibility code which they can then take to their chosen childcare provider to book a
place. Childcare providers will need to validate the code on the Oxfordshire County
Council portal before offering the additional 15 hours free childcare. Please see the
Provider Portal Guidance - Extended Hours Checking System notes for more
information on how to validate codes in the provider portal.
Please note, standard 30-hour codes start with a 5 and the Foster Carer 30-hour
codes start with a 4. However, if there are technical problems with the automated
system a temporary code is issued that starts with a 1. The child can start a place
based on the temporary code and checks can be performed in the Provider Portal
against the temporary code. However, the parent will need to advise the provider of
the permanent code once it is available and this should be updated on the Provider
Portal.
If the parent has received a valid code they can still only claim for the 30 hours in a
term if:
• their child has turned three at least by the term before
• and they received or reconfirmed their eligibility code from HMRC by the term
before
Summer 2019 Page 9 of 17Current Term Date of Birth Term when Can claim
code issued or Extended hours
reconfirmed with eligible code
Spring 3 before or on 31st Autumn Yes
December (deadline 31/12)
Summer 3 before or on 31st Spring Yes
March (deadline 31/3)
Autumn 3 before or on 31st Summer Yes
August (deadline 31/8)
5.1 Audit Dates and Grace Periods
Parents will be required to verify their continued eligibility for the 30 hours free
childcare every three months directly with HMRC through the childcare choice
website https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. If they are found to be no longer
eligible, the additional hours will cease at the end of the grace period. Oxfordshire
County Council will inform providers of which families are in their grace period after
rechecking eligibility codes according to the 6 audit dates, which are at the beginning
and half-term points of each term.
You can also monitor parent’s codes to see that they are reconfirming by using the
Expiration Dashboard on the Provider Portal. There is also a video guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__4YGaxAyp0&feature=youtu.be
6 Claiming Early Education Funding
Funding for eligible 2, 3 and 4 year olds is claimed through the Headcount function in
the Provider Portal. Each term, providers will receive an estimated payment at the
start of term and a balance payment based on the headcount return. The Headcount
enables Oxfordshire County Council to create requests (“tasks”) for information
relating to children receiving Early Education Funding. Providers can respond to
those requests by submitting online claims data. This information is then
incorporated into the Local Authority’s database. The funding team will then check
the submitted data to ensure accuracy and will contact providers to deal with any
anomalies. Separate headcount tasks will be issued for two year old funding and
three and four year old funding.
To ensure that you only claim for eligible funded two year olds; you must have
submitted a Placement Request for each new starter.
6.1 Indicative Budget
At the start of the financial year, you will be sent an indicative budget which broadly
reflects anticipated participation for the year. The budget will summarise the funding
the setting received in the previous financial year to assist you with forecasting for
the forthcoming year. It will also identify the amount of funding you will receive at the
start of each term for your three/four year olds (see below).
Summer 2019 Page 10 of 176.2 Estimated Payment At the beginning of each term, you will receive an estimated payment. Oxfordshire County Council will make separate estimated payments for the three and four year olds and two year olds. Three and Four Year Old Funding - an estimated payment will be made that reflects 60% of the pupil count of the corresponding term in the previous financial year (this applies to all providers except approved childminders - see below). Details of your estimated payment can be found in your ‘Indicative Budget’ which was emailed to you at the beginning of the financial year and is based on attendance in the 2018/19 financial year. Providers are able to request an adjustment to the estimated payment by email earlyeducation@oxfordshire.gov.uk Two Year Old Entitlement – an estimated payment will be made that reflects 60% of the funding for the children that we had recorded as attending your provision at the start of term (this applies to all providers except approved childminders - see below). Initial statements will be sent to you on request. Funding for two year olds that have a place confirmed after initial payment is paid will be paid in full according to the weeks that they have attended, following the receipt of your headcount claim. Childminders – Estimated Payments Childminders must email to earlyeducation@oxfordshire.gov.uk to state their expected numbers before the start of the forthcoming term (please see term specific timeline for exact dates). Please see the example for guidance on how you should inform the funding team of the expected hours. Funded Two Year olds: (Example) Child 1: 15 hours x 12 weeks = 180 hours Funded Three/Four year olds: (Example) Child 1: 15 hours x 12 weeks = 180 hours Child 2: 30 hours x 12 weeks = 360 hours 6.3 Headcount Actual Task and Associated Payment Actual payments are based on the total funding headcount claim for the term, less the estimated payment. Providers submit their actual claim for funding by responding to their Headcount Actual Task on the Provider Portal. Providers must claim for all the hours that children attend in the current term and specify the dates the children started and ended their funded place. Care should also be taken to ensure all data is entered accurately particularly when adding children’s and parents’ core details and attendance information. The information gathered on the child’s parent declaration form should be used to complete this (including the child’s full legal name according to the ID supplied by the parent). Providers can amend and submit the headcount task as many times as they like up to the deadline. Tasks cannot be re-opened after the deadline date has Summer 2019 Page 11 of 17
passed and this means providers will not receive any payment for that Task if they have not submitted their data. Please see the document Headcount Portal Guidance Notes for a full walk through of how to submit your headcount claims. 6.4 Amendment Task and Associated Adjustment Payment The local authority provides funding in accordance with provider’s headcount claim. The headcount submission should include all children that have accessed their funding during the term. However, children may start, leave or change their funded hours unexpectedly after the headcount deadline. Providers must respond to the Headcount Amendment task to notify the Council of these changes and an adjustment payment will be made at the end of term to reflect this. Providers should also use the Amendment Task to notify the local authority of any mistakes that were made when submitting their headcount task. The associated adjustment payment will also include EYPP payments for children which have eligibility confirmed after the headcount deadline and DAF payments for children for whom requests were received after the headcount deadline. If a provider has not selected a K code on the Headcount Task for a child to receive SEN Inclusion Funding, this can also be done on the Amendment Task. The Amendment Task will be populated with the hours and weeks that the provider has claimed through the actual task. The provider must then use the edit headcount button to make the necessary changes and submit the information. If a provider does not have any amendments, they do not need to respond to the Amendment Task. Please see the termly timeline for more information on when the Amendment Task will be issued and the Headcount Portal Guidance Notes for a walk through on how to submit the Amendment claims. 6.5 Parent Declaration Forms A Parent Declaration Form must be completed and signed for all eligible children (2, 3 and 4 year olds) before providers claim the early education funding. These form the contract with the parent on which the provider is authorised to draw down the Early Education Funding and blank forms are available on http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/formsandguidance The provider should request that the parent brings in suitable ID (such as the child’s birth certificate, “red book‟ or passport) to verify the child’s birth date and address prior to offering a place. The Local Authority will require sight of any Parent Declaration forms as part of the audit process, and forms must be retained for 6 Years plus the current financial year. 6.6 Stretched Funding Some providers make funding available over more than 38 weeks i.e. a ‘stretched offer’. Providers choosing the ‘stretched offer’ continue to claim the funding on the basis that the terms are split over 38 weeks (i.e. to a maximum of 12 weeks in the Summer 2019 Page 12 of 17
summer, 14 weeks in the autumn and 12 weeks in the spring). Providers must keep records to show how they have delivered the funding under the ‘stretched offer’. Please see the FAQs at the end of this document for potential delivery models of how funding could be stretched. 6.7 Administrative Charge Tasks cannot be re-opened after the deadline date has passed and this means providers will not receive any payment for that Task if they have not submitted their data. As stated in the funding terms and conditions, providers who miss the deadline will receive a £50 administrative charge which will be deducted from your termly claim. 7 Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and Deprivation Supplement The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) gives providers extra funding to support eligible 3 and 4 year olds. It is designed to give qualifying children the support they need to develop and learn and ensure they are ‘school ready’. For information on eligibility and the process to claim, please see the EYPP webpage https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/early-years-pupil-premium. Providers are paid a Pupil Premium at the rate of 53p per hour for 3 and 4 year old children. Funding can be claimed for eligible children attending up to 15 hours per week (the Pupil Premium cannot be applied to the extended entitlement hours). Deprivation supplement Providers receiving EYPP at 53p per hour will receive an additional 47p per hour deprivation supplement making the total additional hourly rate £1 per hour. Unlike EYPP, the deprivation supplement will be applied to both the universal and the extended entitlement Children will not need to access the full entitlement to be eligible for EYPP; providers will be paid on a pro rata basis. 7.1 Procedure for Claiming EYPP Early Years Pupil Premium can be checked via our Provider Portal at headcount task stage. All the necessary information, including the parent’s National Insurance number and parent’s date of birth, can be obtained from the Parent Declaration Form. The Early Education Funding team will do a bulk check and inform the provider whether the child is eligible for EYPP or not. Funding will be paid alongside the actual payment for the term for children who have had their eligibility confirmed prior to the Headcount Actual Task deadline. Payment Summer 2019 Page 13 of 17
for children who have their eligibility confirmed after the Headcount Task deadline
but before the Amendment Task deadline, will receive the funding alongside the
adjustment payment.
8 Disability Access Funding (DAF)
Providers offering 3 & 4 year old Early Education funding can claim Disability Access
Funding (DAF) to support disabled children to access the free entitlement.
The DAF (and SEN Inclusion Funding) funding is designed to assist with children’s
accessibility and inclusion to develop and learn.
3 and 4 year olds will be eligible for the DAF if they meet the following criteria:
• the child is in receipt of child Disability Living Allowance and;
• the child receives free early education.
Please note that four-year olds in primary school reception classes are not eligible
for DAF funding.
A lump sum payment of £615 per financial year is available to the nominated
provider.
To request DAF, parents will need to complete the appropriate Parent Declaration
form and give their nominated provider a current copy of the child’s DLA letter.
Providers will then need to complete a DAF request via the Provider Portal and a
scan of the child’s DLA letter must be attached. If the parents move the child to
another Early Education funding provider during the year, the DAF funding is not
transferable to the new provider.
Payments for DAF requests received before the headcount deadline for the term, will
be paid along with the Actual payment for the term. Payment for forms received after
the headcount deadline but before the end of term will be made with the Adjustment
Payment for the term.
9 Special Educational Needs (SEN)
SEN Inclusion Funding is available for children who:
• Meet the criteria as described in the “Special Educational Needs Support in
Oxfordshire’s schools and settings.”
https://www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/guidance-and-procedures-
support-providers
• Are evidenced by clear tracking of their developmental levels which show a
need to provide some additional provision/ planning for the child.
• Have required external agencies, such as speech and language therapists to
be involved to offer advice and support which can be implemented with some
small adaptations and interventions
• Are considered by setting staff/class teacher, SENCo and parents to require
this level of intervention and specific planning
Summer 2019 Page 14 of 17To claim for these children, you will need to select a K category from within the
child’s record on the Actual or Amendment Headcount Task.
The amount paid is £38.50 per funded week and the child must be in receipt of free
early education funding.
The Council has a duty to ensure that all funding is allocated in an effective and
equitable manner. SEN data will be regularly reviewed, trends analysed and you
may be contacted for a discussion to understand if data falls outside of expected
trends.
Children in receipt of this funding will be supported through SEN outcomes planning
and reviewing. You must be able to show how you have used this funding to offer the
child an enhanced provision to support their access to appropriate developmental
and learning opportunities and aid their progress.
If any child in receipt of Inclusion Fund goes on to have higher needs and is awarded
Additional SEN funding then this funding would cease. For information about
Additional SEN Funding see: https://www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/guidance-
and-procedures-support-providers
10 Statements
Provider statements will be generated through the Provider Portal for both the Actual
and Amendment Payment. Statements can be found in Payment History under the
Headcount Menu.
Your provider statement will clearly indicate:
o The payments you have received during the term
o A child level breakdown that will include splits for Early Years Pupil Premium,
SEN Inclusion Funding and Disability Access Funding payments
Should your setting have an overpayment, where the estimated payment made in
the first week of term is greater than the actual claim that term, or as a result of the
Amendment Task the provider owes money to the council, the monies owing will be
deducted from your next payment from Oxfordshire County Council. Should we
require you to make a repayment before the following term, an email sent detailing
how to make a repayment.
11 Local Authority Audit Process
The Local Authority will audit a sample of providers each term in accordance with the
Terms and Conditions. This is primarily to ensure that funding is being claimed, and
paid correctly and that parents receive their child’s entitlement free at the point of
delivery. Providers will be contacted by the Early Education Funding Team to
arrange a convenient time.
Providers should expect a typical audit visit to last between 1 and 2 hours and during
a routine audit the current term’s funding claim will be checked.
An audit report will be sent approximately 10 working days after the audit visit and
details any actions required by the provider. If the audit identifies any incorrectly or
falsely claimed funding, it will be recouped from the provider by means of an invoice.
Summer 2019 Page 15 of 1712 Frequently Asked Questions 12.1 Where can I find the termly guidance notes? Please see http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/formsandguidance 12.2 Where can I find help to use the Provider Portal? We have created on-line tutorials for you to watch. They can be found here: How to check a 30 hour code: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__4YGaxAyp0&feature=youtu.be How to create a Headcount task: https://vimeo.com/269156981/df15893bd4 How to use your Dashboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuNvTY1By54&feature=youtu.be An Overview of the Claims Process for Childminders: https://player.vimeo.com/video/301818307 12.3 Is it compulsory to offer the 30 hours? Providers are not obliged to offer 30 hour places. They can continue to offer just the universal 15 hours entitlement. However, eligible parents will be entitled to 30 hours per week and may choose to split their funding between two providers only offering 15 hours. Providers will need to ensure that those parents are eligible for the extended hours. If providers choose to offer just the 15 hours, they will need to make clear any chargeable hours or sessions. 12.4 Do providers have to offer 15 hours or 30 hours and nothing in between? Providers can offer up to 30 hours to eligible parents. If providers are offering fewer than the 30 hours, they should ensure that the parent is aware of their full entitlement. 12.5 Can you clarify the meaning of the grace period – when it can and can’t be used? The grace period enables parents to retain their childcare if they become ineligible for 30 hours and will take them up to the end of term point. The grace period will not apply if the child didn’t claim 30 hours the previous term. A child cannot move providers in the grace period. A grace period will not continue beyond the age that a child has achieved compulsory school age (the term following their fifth birthday). Summer 2019 Page 16 of 17
12.6 Is the 2 year old code just an Oxfordshire code. Yes, the 2 year old code starting TYF is an Oxfordshire code only. If you have a child moving from outside Oxfordshire they will need to do another eligibility check to obtain a TYF number 12.7 Can childminders claim funding for their own relatives or relatives of their childminding assistants? A childminder cannot claim early education funding for providing childcare for their own children or those of any assistants employed by them or children related to the childminder or assistant. This is because the legal definition of child care specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or step-parent or other relative (section 20 of the Childcare Act 2006). The provision by a childminder (for his/her own child) does not count as childcare in legal terms and therefore early education funding cannot be claimed, even if they are claiming for other children. 12.8 What are the potential delivery options for stretching the entitlements? 570 hours can be divided neatly into 15 hours delivered over 38 weeks. This is not the case for other delivery models. Parents can be asked to pay for the additional time or be given the option for their children to attend for fewer hours. The table below illustrates the variation in hours for different delivery models. 15 hours of free entitlement Number of Total annual Variation Hours per five-day week weeks hours 15 38 570 0 14 41 574 4 13 44 572 2 12 48 576 6 11.5 50 575 5 30 hours of free entitlement Number of Total annual Variation Hours per five day week weeks hours 30 38 1140 0 28 40 1120 -20 25.5 44 1122 -18 23.5 48 1128 -12 22.5 50 1125 -15 12.9 A child wants to access early education funding after the Headcount deadline. Am I eligible for funding for that child? Yes. Please add the child to your Headcount Amendment Task. 12.10 How many hours per day can be offered to parents? The Terms and Conditions allow for maximum flexibility so providers can claim up to 10 hours per day for eligible children. Providers are strongly encouraged to continue to offer a maximum of 6 hours especially for vulnerable funded two year olds. Summer 2019 Page 17 of 17
13 Useful Contact Information
Early Education Funding Team 01865
earlyeducation@oxfordshire.gov.uk
(funding and portal queries) 894811
Family Information Service (parent 01865
fis.enquiries@oxfordshire.gov.uk
queries) 323332
Early Years Team (safeguarding 0845
Early.years@oxfordshire.gov.uk
forms) 6042346
Early Years SEN Team Early.years@oxfordshire.gov.uk
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