Halton Borough Council wants to remind parents that the free early years entitlement for three-and-four-year olds changed in September 2017 and they are now entitled to an extra 15 hours care a week – giving them a total of 30 hours free childcare, per week.

This is intended to support working parents with the cost of childcare and enable parents, where they wish, to return to work or to work additional hours.

Parents are reminded that they can only start claiming a 30 hour place for their three-or-four-year-old old the term following the date they receive authorisation from HMRC.

Therefore, parents are encouraged to apply in good time (before the end of November 2017 at the latest) if they want to start claiming from January 2018.

To find out if you qualify and apply, go on-line to: https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/ You can also apply for Tax Free Childcare on the same link.

Once parents have applied and been informed they are eligible for the additional 15 hours, and have been issued with an eligibility code, they need to take the eligibility code to their childcare provider, as childcare providers need to verify the code and date before a child can take up the additional hours. Parents will also need to re-confirm eligibility every 3 months.

To ensure you can claim 30 hours free childcare from January 2018, parents are encouraged to apply by the end of November 2017 as any applications received after 31st DECEMBER 2017 will not be eligible to claim the additional hours until April 2018.

To be eligible for the additional 15 hours from January 2018, both sets of criteria below must be met:

• The child must be 3 or 4 years old before 31st December 2017, and
• Working parents must have applied for the additional hours and been issued with an eligibility code from the above website, before 31st December 2017

Parents who are already claiming 30 hours free childcare are reminded that they must re-confirm eligibility every 3 months, by logging into their Government gateway account. They will receive an email reminder in their Government secure emails account approximately 4 weeks before their expiry date.

Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board Member for Children, Young People and Families, Cllr Tom McInerney, said: “We want to make sure everyone knows what they are entitled to.”