Early education and childcare

Childcare Provider Information

Guidance and information to support childcare providers to claim early education:

Early Education Funding Agreement

Click the link for more information and guidance.

 Funding Agreement

Early Education Claim Period Documentation

Parent/Carer Documentation

Funding Entitlement Booklet - This document must be issued to parents and carers with Part 1 of the parent/carer claim form.  It provides information to families about the funding entitlements and how they can claim.

Parent/carer booklet (PDF, 407 KB)

Funding Entitlement Parent / Carer Claim Form - The claim form is mandatory.  Prior to issuing this form, please refer to the provider guidance below.

The form is split into 3 parts -

• Part 1 - provides guidance to complete Part 2 and 3 and QR codes to the booklet, tax-free childcare and universal credit childcare costs
• Part 2 - must be completed every time a new entitlement is claimed or when their details (e.g. address) change
• Part 3 - must be completed every claim period

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 1 (PDF, 309 KB)

PDF Template -

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 2 (PDF, 202 KB)

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 3 SUMMER VERSION (PDF, 268 KB)

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 3 AUTUMN VERSION (PDF, 265 KB)

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 3 SPRING VERSION (PDF, 263 KB)

Word Template -

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 2 (Word doc, 225 KB)

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 3 SUMMER VERSION (Word doc, 306 KB)

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 3 AUTUMN VERSION (Word doc, 300 KB)

Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form - Part 3 SPRING VERSION (Word doc, 295 KB)

Ready Steady Go for Funded Childcare - These help families to navigate the pathway to the correct entitlement for the age of their child and eligibility.

Ready Steady Go - SPRING VERSION (PDF, 158 KB)

Ready Steady Go - SUMMER VERSION (PDF, 157 KB)

Ready Steady Go - AUTUMN VERSION (PDF, 158 KB)

Provider Documentation

Parent / Claim Form Guidance (including mail merge option and the templates)

Provider Guidance for claim forms (PDF, 782 KB)

Calculator Templates

These calculators are shared to help providers calculate the funded hours to be claimed by families.

Template - Parent / Carer claim form (Excel doc, 37 KB)

Template - Change of hours (Excel doc, 45 KB)

Template - Annual calculator - Summer born children (April to August) (Excel doc, 52 KB)

Template - Annual calculator - Autumn born children (September to December)) (Excel doc, 52 KB)

Template - Annual calculator - Spring born children (January to March) (Excel doc, 52 KB)

Template - Estimates and Actuals (Excel doc, 96 KB)

Early Education Funding Rates and Payments

Click the link for more information.

Hourly rates

Funding payment dates

Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNSFF)

Annual Budget Guidance

Annual Budget Statement (Excel doc, 23 KB)

Estimate your Deprivation Supplement (Excel doc, 145 KB)

Provider Payment Details

Provider bank and remittance details form (Word doc, 42 KB)

Other Guidance

Financial Good Practice (PDF, 97 KB) for Early Years Providers

Completing your Census Return (PDF, 835 KB) 

Early Years Procedures

Complaints (funding entitlement)

Appeals (withdrawal or suspension of funding or a request to repay)

Data Protection

Guidance - Data Protection and Password Management (PDF, 93 KB)

Children and young people privacy notices

Receiving and Sending Secure Emails  (PDF, 184 KB)

Other Early Years Funding

Early Years Funding

• Start-up
• Developing childcare places
• Quality & inclusion
• Wraparound
• Smarter working 

SEND Funding

• SEN Inclusion Fund
• EHCP and complex need
• Specialist equipment
• Disability Access Fund (DAF)

If you do not find what you are looking for please contact the Early Years Finance team by email at earlyyearsfinance@norfolk.gov.uk

Early Education Funding Claims

Summer 2024

Autumn 2024

Spring 2025

* these relate to final amendments to existing children, adding new children and end dating those that have left

Failure to submit your claim via the Provider Portal by the specified date may mean your payment is delayed and /or the hours adjusted.

Key points to remember:

• Funding can be adjusted at any point throughout the claim period
• Providers should check the portal following the balancing payment for confirmation of funding paid, as adjustments occur where the national criteria is not met
• Funding should not be claimed where a funding form has not been completed and signed by the parent/carer 

Need help?

Should you require any further assistance please contact:
Early Years Finance Team
Tel: 01603 222300 Option 2
Email: earlyyearsfinance@norfolk.gov.uk

SEN Funding Applications

SEN Inclusion Fund

EHCP SEN Funding

There is no deadline, please submit an application once the family has been notified that a plan has been agreed.

Early Years Grant Applications

Dates to be confirmed

Wraparound Grant Applications

Expression of Interest documentation and applications should be submitted as soon as possible.

The following rates will be paid to all providers who have signed the Local Agreement to offer the Early Education entitlement to families in Norfolk from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

Need help?

Should you require any further assistance please contact:

Early Years Finance Team

Tel: 01603 222300 Option 2

Email: earlyyearsfinance@norfolk.gov.uk

Early Education

under 2's 

Base Rate: £9.69 per hour (from September 2024)

2-year olds

Base Rate: £7.09 per hour

3 and 4-year olds

Base Rate: £5.03 per hour

Deprivation Supplement

The supplement will be calculated on the total number of funded hours for all children whose home address postcode is in a 0-20% most deprived area determined by the index of deprivation (IDACI)*

Rate: £0.21 per hour

* The index of deprivation - IDACI (Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index) is calculated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. It measures the proportion of children under the age of 16 that live-in low-income households.

Early Years Pupil Premium

This is extra funding paid to childcare providers for all eligible children that meet certain criteria.  Once eligible, the funding will not cease whilst the child is in receipt of early education. 

Rate: £0.68 per hour (national rate)

Please see the Early years pupil premium page for more information.

Disability Access Fund (DAF)

This is extra funding available to childcare providers for children in receipt of of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).  Families must nominate the provider (via the parent/carer claim form) to receive the funding and provide evidence that DLA is received by their child.

Rate: £910.00 annually

Please see the Disability Access Fund page for more information

Payments could include any of the following - 

• Early Education Claims
• SEND Funding Panel Awards
• Early Years Panel Awards
• Training Contributions
• Payments agreed by Early Years Achievement Service
• Deductions due to non-payment of invoices (eg. Training and Early Education)

Where possible, any payments due will be processed in time to meet the next available date.

Remittance

A remittance is issued for all payments. The credit to your bank account is dependent on your bank; it may take up to 4 working days before the funds are available following receipt of a remittance document.

New and Amendments to bank or contact details

Please ensure a Provider Update Form (Word doc, 42 KB) is completed to confirm new/amendments to bank and/or contact details.

Early Education Funding Claims

Payments for funding claims will be paid monthly, unless the Local Authority agrees that a provider may opt out. The payment will initial be a percentage of the submitted estimate and then switch to actuals during the claim period.

The final payment for the claim period will be a balance based on actual hours funded.

If estimates are not submitted on or before the deadline, monthly payments will be £0.00 until either an estimate is confirmed via email or the actual balance is paid at the end of the claim period.

Payments in Advance 

To support cash flow issues, it is possible to make advance payments if early education funding is due to a provider. Please contact the Early Years Finance team for further guidance and advice at earlyyearsfinance@norfolk.gov.uk.

Payment Dates 2024-25

These dates are also published on the online Early Years calendar and provider portal. Failure to meet deadlines will mean your payment will be delayed until the next scheduled date.

All payments will be received no later than 7th of each month. These payment dates are provisional and subject to change.

Summer 2024
Receipted on or by -

Autumn 2024
Receipted on or by -

Spring 2025
Receipted on or by -

​​​​​​​

* option to opt out and receive 80% and balance

Need help?

Should you require any further assistance please contact: Early Years Finance Team

Tel: 01603 222300 Option 2

Email: earlyyearsfinance@norfolk.gov.uk

Early Years Funding Rates

The rates for April 2024 onwards were agreed on 29 January 2024 by the Council's Cabinet.

The new rates from April 2024 are available here.

Budget

The Local Authority is required by legislation to issue all providers with an indicative budget at the beginning of the financial year. [Statutory Guidance - A4.2]

The budget should broadly reflect the anticipated total number of hours that will be claimed. It is also a requirement to adjust budgets to reflect actuals within the financial year.

In Norfolk, we have provided a calculator for providers to determine their indicative budget for 2024-25 Early Education funding.

Indicative budget calculator (Excel doc, 23 KB).