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Funding Terms & Conditions for 2, 3 and 4 year olds

CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Eligibility
1.1 2 year olds
1.2 3 & 4 year olds
1.3 Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)
2. Entitlement
3. Census
3.1 Termly headcount
3.2 Parental/Carer Agreement
3.3 Staggered entry to school
3.4 Dual Registrations (3 & 4 year olds)
3.5 Dual Registrations (2 year olds)
4. Funding
4.1 Estimated annual funding statement
4.2 2 year olds’ funding
4.3 3 & 4 year old funding formula
4.4 Early Years Pupil Premium
4.5 Interim Targeted Funding
5. Payment arrangements
5.1 Payment of grant
5.2 Funding statements
5.3 Repayment of funding
5.4 Use of funding
6. Adjustments to funding after census
6.1 Funding for children not on roll during census week (3 & 4 year olds)
6.2 Funding for children not on roll during census week (2 year olds)
6.3 Children who leave a Provider mid-term (3 & 4 year olds)
6.4 Children who leave a Provider mid-term (2 year olds)
7. Invoicing
7.1 Parental contributions and charges
7.2 The stretched offer
8. Audit requirements
8.1 Financial return
8.2 Compliance visits
8.3 Programme monitoring for 2 year olds
8.4 Monitoring for the Interim Targeted Support grant
9. Withdrawal of funding
10. Additional requirements
10.1 Ofsted
10.2 Quality
10.3 Deadlines and returns
10.4 Other
11. Comments and complaints
12. Queries and support

Appendix A
Funding agreement
Appendix B Key dates
Appendix C Audit guidance
Appendix D Finance return pro-formas

INTRODUCTION

Every local authority has a statutory duty under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006 to secure sufficient childcare to enable parents to work or to undertake education and training leading to work.

The London Borough of Bexley (‘Bexley’) gives all childcare providers, maintained schools and academies (together referred to as ‘Providers’) the opportunity to offer free early education places to eligible children aged 2, 3 and 4 years.

Reference in this document to ‘PVI Providers’ means all Providers except maintained schools.

Bexley’s Funding Terms & Conditions summarise the requirements set down in the Department for Education (DfE) publication ‘Early education and childcare - statutory guidance for local authorities’ which took effect from Sep-14. This document may be downloaded from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269734/early_education_and_childcare_for_local_authorities.pdf

Providers must sign and return Appendix A by 3rd July 2015 and comply in full with these Funding Terms & Conditions as a condition to inclusion in the Bexley Directory of Early Years Funded Providers and to receiving funding from Bexley to provide free education places for children aged 2, 3 and 4.

  1. Eligibility
    1.1 2 year olds
    Children may be entitled to up to 15 hours per week free early years education from the term commencing after their 2nd birthday until the term commencing after their 3rd birthday in accordance with the table below. From the term commencing after their 3rd birthday, those children may (subject to availability) remain at the same Provider and access the entitlement for 3 year olds. If there are no places available at the same Provider, they will need to re-apply to another eligible Provider.

Children who are 2 between: Will (subject to availability and eligibility) have a free place from the start of term beginning on or following: 1st April and 31st August 1st September 1st September and 31st December 1st January 1st January and 31st March 1st April

The free entitlement for 2 year olds is subject to availability and the child’s parent/carer must be in receipt of one of the following benefits/credits or meet the following criteria:
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (but not Working Tax Credit) and have an annual income not over £16,190
• the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
• Working Tax Credits and earn £16,190 a year or less

Children are also entitled to a place if:
• they’re looked after by a local council
• they have a current statement of special education needs (SEN) or an education health and care plan
• they get Disability Living Allowance
• they’ve left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order

The programme for two year olds (2YO) is not a universal offer and Parents/ Carers will be required to complete a referral form and provide evidence of receipt of benefits for the placement either at a Provider or at their local Children’s Centre. These need to be submitted to Amy Nolan who will confirm whether the child is eligible for funding (see Section 12 for contact details). The offer of a funded place is also subject to availability of places and funding.

1.2 3 & 4 year olds Children become entitled to 15 hours per week free early education from the term commencing after their 3rd birthday, in accordance with the table below. Their entitlement continues until either the end of the term in which they become 5 years of age, or until they start school. Children who are 3 between: Will have a free place from the start of term beginning on or following: 1st April and 31st August 1st September 1st September and 31st December 1st January 1st January and 31st March 1st April

1.3 Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) Children will count as eligible for EYPP if they are receiving the free entitlement for 3 & 4 year olds, and if any of the following apply: Parents/Carers are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
• Income support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
• Universal Credit
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided the parent/carer is not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and has an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
Or, the child has been:
• Looked after by the local authority for at least one day
• Has been adopted from care
• Has left care under a special guardianship or residence order

  1. Entitlement In Bexley, from September 2015 to August 2016:
    • Eligible 2 year olds from the term after their 2nd birthday may be (subject to availability) entitled to up to 15 hours free early education each week, offered as flexibly as possible, for 38 weeks per year.
    • 3 year olds (from the term following their 3rd birthday) & all 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free early education each week, offered as flexibly as possible over a minimum of 2 days for 38 weeks per year within the following national framework:
    • no session may be shorter than 2.5 hours or longer than 10 hours
    • no session may be funded before 7am or after 7pm
    • For funding purposes the 38 week entitlement is divided as follows:
    • Autumn term (1st September-31st December) = 13 weeks
    • Spring term (1st January-31st March) = 12 weeks
    • Summer term (1st April-31st August) = 13 weeks
    • Children may receive their free early education hours across a maximum of two Providers. Funding will be split proportionately according to the total hours a child attends each Provider. If a parent is claiming more than 15 hours, please refer to the dual registrations policy (Section 3.4 below).
    • Providers may choose to “stretch” this offer, as long as the child is not funded for more than 570 hours in the academic year (see Section 7.2 below).
    • Providers who cannot offer 38 weeks per year must communicate this clearly both to parents and to Bexley before the start of the placement.
    • If a Provider needs to close during the year (holidays, sickness, premises issues etc.) and is therefore unable to offer 38 weeks, they must inform Bexley in writing of the dates the Provider is closed. The funding for the relevant term will be reduced by the number of days the Provider is closed (pro-rata).

  2. Census
    3.1 Termly headcount
    Each Provider offering the free entitlement for 2, 3 or 4 year olds must complete a census or headcount form each term, detailing all the children on roll during the census week. Funding for the term is calculated using this information. An additional DfE return is required to be completed by the Provider as part of the spring term census. The funding Bexley receive for the following financial year is calculated using this return, therefore it is imperative that it is completed fully and accurately. All funded Providers should complete an English as an additional language (EAL) return each term for funded 3 & 4 year old children they consider are working to levels 1, 2 or 3. Full guidance is included in the return. The census also includes collecting parent information for those children believed to be eligible for the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) – name, date of birth and either National Insurance or National Asylum Support Service Number. Eligibility will be checked by Bexley as part of the census. Please note that this is a voluntary data collection, and parents are under no obligation to provide this information. All forms are posted to Providers each term before the census and must be completed in accordance with the deadlines set out in Appendix B or as otherwise instructed by Bexley. Children’s data is extremely sensitive and should be protected. Bexley will encrypt using Egress Switch any email it sends containing information about a child. Providers must also password protect or encrypt emails sent to Bexley containing information about a child or otherwise send hard copies via the post.

3.2 Parent/Carer Agreement
The Provider should ensure that the parent/carer has entered into a Parent/Carer Agreement with it for the term before including the child on the 3 & 4 year old census or headcount form. The Parent/Carer Agreement must include the consent of the parent/carer to the Provider applying to Bexley for funding on their behalf, and a confirmation that they will not claim more than 15 hours per week. The Provider shall upon request provide the Parent/Carer Agreement to Bexley. If the parent/carer is claiming at more than 1 Provider, a copy of this agreement must be sent to Bexley. This will facilitate duplicate checking at headcount. A copy of the blank agreement will be emailed to Providers before the start of each term. Parents of funded 2 year olds do not need to complete this agreement as the referral form supercedes it.

3.3 Staggered entry to school nursery (3 & 4 year olds)
• Whichever Provider has the child in attendance during the early years census week will receive the funding for that child for the term
• However, if the child has attended a PVI Provider for the weeks before census week due to a staggered intake at a maintained school, the following will apply:
• If an eligible child is due to start a maintained school (nursery or reception) but will not start at the beginning of term, the PVI Provider will be funded for the weeks the child attends (up to census week)
• The parent should let the PVI Provider know the date their child will be leaving, and which maintained school they will be attending
• The PVI Provider should include this information as part of the census / head count
• The PVI Provider will receive funding for the child for the number of weeks (rounded up/down) they attend the PVI Provider
• The maintained school will receive funding for the child for the remainder of the term (if the child is joining the Nursery – Reception children are not funded under this formula, but through the Schools Block)
• If the staggered intake will take longer due to the needs of the child, funding will be reviewed on an individual basis.

3.4 Dual Registrations (3 & 4 year olds)
• If an eligible child is registered at 2 Providers, the parent should inform both Providers of the number of hours they are taking at each Provider. • Each Provider will receive funding for the number of hours the child attends (if the total hours is up to 15)
• If a child attends 2 PVI Providers and is claiming more than 15 hours:
• the PVI Provider where the child is doing the majority of the hours (main PVI Provider) will receive funding for the number of hours registered (up to 15)
• the PVI Provider where the child is doing less hours (subsidiary PVI Provider) will receive funding for the balance of the hours (up to a total of 15 over the 2 PVI Providers)
• the parent should be charged any additional hours by the subsidiary PVI Provider
• if a child is doing the same number of hours at each Provider, Bexley will ask the parent which Provider they are claiming the funded hours from.

• If a child attends 1 maintained school and 1 PVI Provider and the child is claiming more than 15 hours:
• the maintained school will receive funding for the number of hours registered (up to 15)
• the PVI Provider will receive funding for the balance of the hours (up to a total of 15 hours)
• the parent should be charged any additional hours by the PVI Provider

• If a child attends 2 Providers across 2 Local Authorities:
• the Local Authorities should agree between them who gets the funding
• if the Local Authorities can’t agree, the Department for Education will allocate the funding to the Local Authority in which the child is resident

3.5 Dual Registrations (2 year olds)
Eligible children may access the free entitlement over 2 Providers, but this must be approved by Bexley in advance and in writing.

Funding Calculation (2015-16 Financial Year) 4.1 Estimated annual funding statement In March 2015 all funded Providers (except childminders) received an estimated annual funding statement for 3 & 4 year olds for the 2015-16 financial year. The estimate is based on: • Actual take up in the 2014-15 financial year • Actual EAL supplements in the 2014-15 financial year • An IDACI supplement based on the summer 2014 census The estimated annual funding statement is used to calculate the first payment of each term for the 2015-16 financial year. If a Provider believes that their take-up of places will be significantly more or less than this estimate for any term, they should email schools.finance@bexley.gov.uk with the details so that this can be taken into account when calculating the first payment.
Funding will be adjusted following the termly census.

4.2 Funding formula for 2 year olds: hourly rate x no of hours per week (not exceeding 15 hours per week) x no of weeks (not exceeding 38 weeks per year) 2 year olds hourly rate £5.28

4.3 Funding formula for 3 & 4 year olds: base rate x no of hours per week (not exceeding 15 hours per week) x no of weeks (not exceeding 38 weeks per year) + deprivation supplements Hourly/Base Rates: 3 & 4 year olds full day care base rate £3.66 3 & 4 year olds sessional day care base rate £3.62 3 & 4 year olds childminders base rate £3.67 3 & 4 year olds schools / academies £3.67

Deprivation supplements The deprivation supplement uses Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) and EAL data.
IDACI: The data from the summer 2015 census includes the postcodes of all children attending the Provider. The postcodes are uploaded onto the IDACI website and sorted according the level of deprivation in that postcode. Deprivation supplements will be paid to Providers in respect of enrolled children who live in the areas of greatest deprivation (top 40%) This data will be used to calculate the amount of IDACI funding in the following financial year. Providers will receive £250 per year per child aged 3 & 4 who live in the area of greatest deprivation (top 25% band) and £125 per year per child aged 3 & 4 who live within the area of next greatest deprivation (25-40% band) EAL: The Provider will complete an EAL return each term as part of the census, identifying the number of children with English as an additional language (as referred to in Section 3.1 above). This data will be used to calculate the amount of EAL funding to be received each term. The returns will be moderated through random checks by Early Years Advisors to ensure consistency in the information provided. Providers will receive £83 per term per child aged 3 & 4 with EAL.

4.4 Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) Funding follows the child and is paid at an hourly rate. £0.53 will be added to the base rate for each eligible child.

4.5 Interim Targeted Support Funding This is a new grant to enable the inclusion of funded 3 & 4 year olds with additional needs and / or disabilities in settings. It is designed to provide financial support to increase staffing ratios in the setting to meet children’s needs. The Provider will need to apply to the Bexley Panel (which meets each term) and to describe the nature of the child’s additional needs, how this creates a barrier to their inclusion within the setting and why additional funding / staffing is required to support the child. The funding is based on an hourly rate of £10.00 per hour, for up to 15 hours per week over a maximum of 6 weeks for each eligible child. Full details and an application form are available on request. Please email earlyyears@bexley.gov.uk

2016-17 Financial Year The funding formula and funding rates will be confirmed during the Spring term 2016, and all Providers (with the exception of childminders) will receive an estimated budget by the end of March 2016.

  1. Payment Arrangements 5.1 Payment of Grant Providers must meet deadlines set by Bexley with regard to headcount forms (as referred to in Section 3.1 above). Deadlines for the year commencing September 2015 are included in the calendar attached at Appendix B. If deadlines are not met, payments cannot be guaranteed. If deadlines are not met and a payment is made after the given date, parents must not be charged and then reimbursed once the funding is received.

PVI Providers Funding for each term will be paid to PVI Providers in three parts: • The first payment for 2 year olds is 70% of the estimate for the term • The first payment for 3 & 4 year olds is 70% of the estimate for the term (based on the estimated budget) plus 1/3 of the annual IDACI supplement. If the Provider expects significantly more or less children than the previous year, they must inform Bexley by the notified deadline so that an adjustment can be made to the 1st payment calculation. • The second payment for 2, 3 & 4 year olds for the term will be made following an accurate headcount of eligible children attending the provision. This will be 100% of funding owed for the term (including the EAL supplement for 3 & 4 year olds) less the amount already paid. This will also include 100% of the EYPP owed for the term. Childminders wanting to receive 70% of the terms funding at the start of term must inform Bexley by the notified deadline of the number of hours they expect children to be attending the following term. If this information is not received by the deadline, no 1st payment will be made.

Maintained Schools Maintained schools receive the funding as part of their termly advance.

5.2 Funding Statements PVI Providers A funding statement will be sent at the start of term setting out the payment calculation for the 1st payment. The 2nd payment for the term will be made following the termly census. A funding statement will be sent to the Provider with a list of children to be funded, including whether they are eligible for EYPP. This will also include details of funding adjustments if the child is not being funded for the full number of weeks. A final funding statement will be sent out towards the end of term when the balancing payment is made, and will include a list of 2 year olds funded for the term.

Maintained Schools A funding statement and list of children to be funded for the term, including whether they are eligible for EYPP will be sent to maintained schools following the termly census. The funding allocation is adjusted as required following each termly census. Adjustments to funding for the spring term will be taken into account when calculating the schools central balance at closedown.

5.3 Repayment of Funding Providers must repay on demand any funding paid by Bexley: • where, in the reasonable opinion of Bexley, the Provider has failed to meet any of these Funding Terms & Conditions; • in excess of the number of free hours delivered by the Provider; • for all or part of any term where the provision was unavailable or was not taken up; • following an administrative error on the part of Bexley or the Provider; or • which the Provider was not entitled to receive for any reason. Save in the case of a failure to meet any of the Funding Terms & Conditions, where possible the recovery of an overpayment will be made by adjusting future funding paid to the Provider. Where this is not possible, the Provider will be invoiced.

5.4 Use of Funding The 2, 3 & 4 year old free entitlement funding is provided to enable eligible children to access up to 15 hours per week free at the point of delivery. Parents should therefore not be charged for the free entitlement hours they are claiming for. This funding is not ring-fenced, and may be used for purposes within the setting, such as staff wages, rent or the purchase of resources.

The EYPP is additional funding, and should be used to support children’s development, learning and care. This could include additional training for staff on early language, investing in partnership working with colleagues in the area to further your expertise or supporting staff in working on specialised areas such as speech and language. OFSTED will require evidence on how the grant has been used to support these aims as part of their inspection. Further guidance is available for the Early Years Advisors and Project Officers.

6 Adjustments to funding after census Providers must inform Bexley immediately in writing if a child has left or joined their setting part way through a term. For 3 & 4 year olds please email schools.finance@bexley.gov.uk with the child’s name, address, date of birth, number of hours to be funded per week and the leaving or start date. For 2 year olds please email twoyearoffer@bexley.gov.uk with the child’s name, address, date of birth, number of hours to be funded per week and the leaving or start date. Please either password protect or encrypt the email. If you are unable to protect the information, please send this information via the post. Providers must ensure wherever possible that no more than 15 hours of free provision per week is claimed in respect of any one child. If a Provider becomes aware that a child is receiving funding for more than the entitlement of 15 hours provision per week, they should inform Bexley immediately.

6.1 Funding for children not on roll during census week (3 & 4 year olds) • If an eligible child enrols with a Provider after census week, and is not already enrolled with another Provider claiming the free entitlement, the Provider will be funded for the rest of the term from the date the child enrolled in accordance with these terms & conditions. • The Provider should email schools.finance@bexley.gov.uk with the details of the child including their name and address, date of birth, start date and number of hours per week to be claimed. • If the child was already claiming the free entitlement at another setting during the term in question, no funding adjustments will be made for that term unless exceptional circumstances (as set out in 6.3 below) apply. The Providers may, however, come to a private arrangement where the funding follows the child.

6.2 Funding for children not on roll during census week (2 year olds) • The Provider must submit a referral form for all 2 year olds, and have funding agreed by Bexley before the child starts a funded place. • If the child is eligible, the Provider will be funded for the rest of the term from the date the child enrolled in accordance with these terms & conditions.

6.3 Children who leave a Provider mid-term (3 & 4 year olds) • All Providers must inform Bexley in writing if a child leaves after census week • If a child leaves a Provider mid-term to attend another Provider, Bexley will not adjust that term’s funding for the Provider unless any of the follow exceptional circumstances apply: • Safeguarding issues • A significant change placing a family in challenging circumstances • The child’s additional needs are significantly not met • A Provider may apply to Bexley, on behalf of a parent, for their child’s funding to move with the child. The following conditions must also be met: • The parent has discussed the reasons for leaving the funded setting with the setting and given them notice of their intention to leave, in line with the Provider’s terms and conditions • Where colleagues from Bexley or external departments recommend or support the proposed move from one pre-school to another in order to meet the needs of a child, then a short recommendation must be written and signed by the professional and given to the nursery making the application for the funding transfer. This must be attached to the application form. • Please email schools.finance@bexley.gov.uk for an application form and return this to Bexley Schools Finance by the specified date each term for the application to be considered. • This application should be signed by both the current provider and the new provider applying on behalf of the parent. • Bexley officers will meet once a term to discuss whether funding should be transferred from one Provider to another. • Bexley will notify both the Providers in writing of the outcome of the application within 5 working days of the meeting.

6.4 Children who leave a Provider mid-term (2 year olds) • It is expected that children remain at the same setting for the term unless there are exception circumstances. • The 2 year old free entitlement is not a universal offer, and so funding would follow the child [only] if agreed [in advance in writing] by Bexley. Please send any request to transfer funding to twoyearoffer@bexley.gov.uk

  1. Invoicing 7.1 Parental contributions and charges • The free entitlement must be free at the point of delivery. • Providers must not charge parents/carers fees for any provision in respect of which they receive funding from Bexley. • Providers must not obtain deposits, retainers or registration fees from parents/carers in relation to the free entitlement. • Parents must not, for any reason, be charged fees in advance for the free entitlement to be refunded at a later date. • Providers must provide clear invoices to parents/carers for every funded child, including children who access free hours only. Any funding received must not be shown as a monetary amount in the invoice given to a child’s parents/carers. When preparing an invoice, Providers must deduct the number of hours for which a child is being funded by Bexley from the total number of hours attended at the Provider and invoice parents/carers only for any additional hours. • Parents must not be required or expected to take up additional services in order to access a free place. Any additional services that are provided during a child’s free hours that require a payment must be offered as an optional service. • Parents must not be required to take up more hours than their child’s free entitlement and/or more than 38 weeks of provision per year. • Providers must offer the free entitlement as flexibly as possible within the funding regulations Providers may charge for additional services, so long as this is not a condition of accessing the free entitlement. The level of such fees is a private matter for agreement between the Provider and the parent. Parents who choose to take up additional services should not be charged more for those services than parents of children who are not accessing the free entitlement. Arrangements for charging for additional services should be made clear and transparent to all parents and be made available to Bexley upon request.

7.2 Making a “stretched” offer • All eligible 2, 3 & 4 year olds are entitled to 570 hours of free early years education each year (15 hours per week x 38 weeks per year). • For funding purposes the 38 week entitlement is divided as follows: • Autumn term (1st September-31st December) = 13 weeks • Spring term (1st January-31st March) = 12 weeks • Summer term (1st April-31st August) = 13 weeks • Providers can decide to “stretch” the offer over more than 38 weeks, as long as the total hours claimed during the academic year is not more than 570.
• Bexley will continue to fund the Provider on the 38 week offer, and any arrangement to stretch the offer is a private matter between the Provider and the parent in accordance with the Provider’s billing and invoicing policy. • The stretched offer can only be accessed if the child is claiming funding at one Provider. • If the Provider makes a stretched offer, this must be clearly marked on the signed Parent/Carer Agreement each term, stating how many funded hours per week they are claiming over the number of weeks. 8. Audit Requirements Providers must: • Sign and return to Bexley Schools Finance a copy of these funding terms & conditions by 3rd July 2015. • Pay all funding into a dedicated business bank account for childcare provision (not childminders).
• Ensure their childcare accounts are independently audited or examined annually, in accordance with the requirements shown in the attached guidance at Appendix C. • Maintain full and clear records of children receiving the free entitlement, and should provide these records for inspection by Bexley officers upon request. Records include registers, Parent Claim Forms and invoices. Records must be retained for the current year and for an additional five years. • Ensure that the parent of every funded child completes an accurate Parent Claim Form, a copy of which must be forwarded to Bexley for every child who attends more than one Provider. • Maintain accurate records about all children receiving free hours and ensure that these records are available upon request by Bexley. • Inform Bexley if it becomes apparent that a funded 2 or 3 or 4 year old is attending funded childcare provision elsewhere.

8.1 Financial Return Providers must: • submit the completed finance pro-forma (Appendix D) for the period ending 31 August 2015 by 31 October 2015 (if submitting on an academic year basis), or • submit the completed finance pro-forma (Appendix D) for the period ending 31 March 2016 by 31 May 2016 (if submitting on a financial year basis) • inform Bexley of whether they are submitting on a financial or academic year basis by ticking the appropriate box in Appendix A of this Agreement. • include details and evidence of audit or independent examination of their accounts.

8.2 Compliance Visits All Providers will be subject to and must co-operate with on-site compliance visits which may include (without limitation) the following checks: • records of children for whom funding has been claimed, including that the date of birth and home address have been verified and t