Childcare Expansion Revenue and Capital Grant funding is intended to support us in delivering the expansion of:
- the 30-hours early years entitlement for working families
- before and after school clubs (wraparound childcare) for primary school aged children
Capital funding
We have received £435,000 government capital funding. This will be allocated to Early Years Childcare providers and schools who submit a bid to the Capital Small Grants Scheme. The maximum grant available for any single project is £20,000.
To qualify you must use the funding to meet capital costs for projects creating sufficient places for:
- Children taking up an early years place through the expanded 30-hours entitlement for qualifying working parents (from the term following the child reaching 9-months to the term in which they turn 3-years-old);
- Increasing the supply of before and after school childcare for primary school aged children.
You can apply for childcare expansion capital funding by completing our online form. Before applying you will need to either be:
- registered with Ofsted and have Unique Reference Number (URN)
- a childminder registered with Ofsted or a Childminder Agency
If you are in the process of applying to be registered with Ofsted, you cannot proceed with this application at this time. For further support and information contact us by using our online form.
If you want to apply for more than one site you will need to complete an application for each one.
We will only consider one application per site.
We will let you know our decision within 10 working days of your application.
Examples of projects that could be funded
Examples of childcare projects:
- Projects that enable and/or increase access to childcare places for eligible children;
- Projects that adapt, re-model or improve existing childcare places to make them suitable for a wider range of needs;
- Central capital works required to enable delivery of the entitlement. These could be achieved through:
- Expansion of existing childcare provision, including expanding existing provision to a different or additional site;
- Remodelling of existing provision to create additional capacity;
- Creation of new childcare places, whether via the creation of new settings, or expanding provision in existing providers;
- Modifications or improvements to central IT systems used by the local authority to deliver the entitlements.
Examples of appropriate before and after school childcare projects:
- Projects that enable the creation of new or increase access of before and after school childcare places (where suitability of space may be a concern);
- Projects that adapt, remodel or improve existing before and after school childcare provision to make them suitable for a wider range of needs;
- Purchasing fixed assets required to deliver before and after school childcare provision. These could be achieved through:
- Building modifications to enable use of space outside main school/setting operating hours, e.g., secure external access, outside lighting to enable outdoor space to be used year-round;
- Building modifications to adapt space for use to deliver inclusive before and after school childcare;
- Improvements to storage;
- New physical assets such as minibus purchase (to support a hub model of before and after school childcare provision), play equipment (including outdoor play equipment), or tables and chairs.
To be considered capital expenditure the asset must bring an economic benefit, and able to be depreciated, over more than one financial year.
Revenue funding
We have received £446,000 government revenue funding. This will be allocated to Early Years Childcare providers and schools who submit a bid to the Revenue Small Grants Scheme. The maximum grant available for any single project is £20,000.
To qualify you must use the funding to increase childcare places for:
- Increasing the supply of before and after school childcare for primary school aged children including places for vulnerable children and SEND.
Schools, Pre-schools, independent nurseries and childminders can apply for revenue funding by completing our online form. Before applying you will need to either:
- be registered with Ofsted and have Unique Reference Number (URN)
- be a childminder registered with Ofsted or a Childminder Agency
If you are in the process of applying to be registered with Ofsted, you cannot proceed with this application at this time. For further support and information contact us by using our online form.
If you want to apply for more than one site you will need to complete an application for each one.
We will only consider one application per site.
We will let you know our decision within 10 working days of your application.
Examples of projects that could be funded
Examples of childcare projects:
- contribute to start up or expand and running costs.
- supports growth of future demand, for example, improved communication with parents and advice on use of Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare.
- Childcare provision funded from this grant must meet the definition of wraparound childcare, i.e., be available directly before and after the school day, from 8am to 6pm (or equivalent, if data shows that local demand is for different hours) during school term time for primary school-age children. It may be run on a school site or at another setting. Childcare should be Ofsted registered. It should not require parents to pick their children up from school and drop them off at another location.
- cover costs including staffing, training, and transport costs such as minibus hire (not purchase, although capital funding could be used for this), as well as resources.
- contribute to running costs whilst demand builds, to remove any financial risk to providers of offering additional places before demand is guaranteed.
- pay for training for before and after school childcare staff, including specialist training for staff to ensure:
- they feel equipped to support children with additional needs
- to provide free or subsidised places for children before and after school
- where local authorities identify this as necessary as part of before and after school childcare places recruitment strategy