Grants,Funding and Tax

Somerset County Council's Early Years Grant.

The term after your child turns 3 years old you are entitled to use the Somerset Early Years Grant of up to 570 hours per year.

The Early Years Grant is funded by the Government to ensure a free part-time early education place is available for all three and four year olds in settings that have been inspected by Ofsted and found to be graded at a minimum standard of ‘good’ in terms of quality in England.(link to our Ofsted report)

3 and 4 year old children are entitled to free early years education up to 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year or 11 hours per week for 51 weeks of the year which can be accessed at The Folly.

Parents do not contribute towards this minimum entitlement but may be charged fees for any childcare after the free entitlement.

Eligibility dates

Your child will receive the grant in the term following his/her third birthday:

• Children born between 1 April and 31 August (inclusive) will be eligible to a free place from 1 September following their third birthday.
• Children born between 1 September and 31 December (inclusive) will be eligible to a free place from 1 January following their third birthday.
• Children born between 1 January and 31 March (inclusive) will be eligible to a free place from 1 April following their third birthday.

The Folly Nursery can provide the forms and do the grant administration for you. All you have to do is complete the forms and produce your child’s birth certificate, passport or child benefit details to prove their eligibility.

More information can be found at:

www.somerset.gov.uk/childrens-services/early-years-for-families/early-years-entitlement-information-for-families/

2 year funding;

At The Folly we accept funding for eligible 2 year olds. For more information in this or to check your child’s eligibility please click here:

www.somerset.gov.uk/childrens-services/early-years-for-families/funding-for-2-year-olds/

Salary sacrifice scheme / childcare vouchers

Help with nursery fees;

The Childcare Voucher Scheme enables you to take part of your salary in childcare vouchers in either a paper or e-voucher format.

You do not pay Income Tax or National Insurance contributions on the part of the salary you take in vouchers, which produces a significant saving. Both parents are eligible to claim for the vouchers as long as you are both in employment.

Basic-rate taxpayer can save up to £962 per year, whilst a higher-rate taxpayer can save up to £1,196 per year. The amount of vouchers you can claim with the above tax relief is £243 per calendar month.
Operated through a salary sacrifice scheme, the employer will also save national insurance contributions, currently at 12.8% of the value of the vouchers provided.

To start using Childcare Vouchers you need to establish whether or not your company is associated with one of the current established providers. If they are, the procedures for joining the scheme will already be clearly established. If not, you might like to see if your employer will introduce such a scheme as part of their benefit package.

Tax Credits: Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credit

For up to date information on Tax Credits and the Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit, please visit the Government's official website. Here you can find out if you qualify and start the process of applying for Tax Credits or Working Tax Credits:

https://www.gov.uk/child-tax-credit

Discounts:

We offer a 10% discount on siblings’ fees. This is applied to the eldest child.

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