With the deadline for claiming looming near, Staffordshire parents are being urged to apply for childcare worth up to £5,000 a year.
Children who celebrate their third birthday between April 1 and August 31 2018 are entitled to 30 hours a week funded childcare which are available across the county from September 1, but to claim the funding parents should register at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk by August 31, or must wait until the New Year.
Mark Sutton, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “If eligible parents want their three and four-year-olds to have 30 hours of funded childcare every week from September they must enrol by the end of August, or wait four months.
“This is a great deal for parents and it can make a huge difference to a family. This funded childcare can boost their work life balance, or keep some money in their pocket, or enable them to work more hours and I would encourage everyone eligible to take it up.”
To be eligible for 30 hours’ funded childcare both parents, or the parent in a single-parent family, must earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage, or living wage. Once parents have a registration code from the website, they should contact their preferred childcare provider as soon as possible to make the necessary arrangements.
Places are also available for children who are already three or four years old, but haven’t yet been registered. The 30 hours scheme was rolled out nationally after being trialled in Staffordshire in 2016/17. Latest figures show that the families of 7,625 children took up the 30 hours’ offer in the county in the last year, equating to more than a quarter of a million hours of childcare a year.
Mark Sutton added: “In Staffordshire 96 per cent of pre-school places are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, so parents can be confident this scheme helps them and helps their child get the best possible start before going to school.
“The county council does all it can to promote support this scheme because we know how well it works for those who take it.”
