What is the Childcare Offer?
Welsh Government is committed to providing 30 hours a week of combined early education and childcare for eligible working parents of three and four year olds, for up to 48 weeks of the year.
It consists of a combination of the existing Foundation Phase Nursery (FPN) provision open to all three and four-year-olds and additional funded childcare for eligible families.
How many hours of childcare am I eligible for?
The offer is a maximum of 30 hours of combined education and childcare. Merthyr Tydfil already offers children, from the term following their 3rdbirthday, a minimum of 12.5 funded hours of FPN education, per week. This means that during term time, eligible parents can access an additional 17.5 hours of childcare.
Parents are not required to access their early education entitlement in order to access the childcare element of the offer. However, their entitlement will include these hours whether they access them or not.
If your child’s school offers full time FPN, then your term time entitlement through the childcare offer will be taken up by the FPN provision. Parents will still be eligible for 30 hours of childcare for 9 weeks of the school holidays.
How many hours of education am I eligible for?
The education element of this offer is subject to each primary schools offer, which will vary from part-time to full-time Foundation Phase Nursery.
Children may also be able to access their education place through a Registered Education Provider (REP), in Non-Maintained settings.
Please note: The 30 hour childcare offer will be administered by RCT, who are the delivery authority for the programme. They will be responsible for processing applications from parents, determining eligibility and informing them of the outcome. They will also process and make payments to childcare providers for the delivery of the Offer.
