The purpose of this FAQ is to update providers of any changes during the Summer term 2018.
Please refer to the Local Code of Practice, the Early Years Website, the Provider Annual Agreement and other documents provided by Early Years for detailed funding information.
When will the estimate payment for the spring term be made? / The estimate payment is due to be processed by Accounts Payable week ending 13 April 2018.Providers must be mindful that this is an ‘estimated’ payment. Should the ‘actual’ place take-up be less than estimated, an invoice will be raised by the Local Authority to recover the difference.
How many weeks are funded for the spring term? / There are 12 funded weeks (the summer term commences as of 1st April 2018). All eligible children are entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks at 15 hours a week. 180 hours in total, or 30 hours a week. 360 hours in total. How a provider ‘manages’ these hours is in agreement with the provider and the parent.
When will the portal open? / A task will be set on Tuesday 3rdApril 2018 and will close on Thursday 10th May 2018. All claims for funding must be submitted before this date.
If a child leaves or starts after the lock date, providers must inform Early Years (EY) immediately and amend confirmation reports as appropriate. Late claims after portal close may not be paid until the summer term estimate payment.
How do providers claim EYPP for 3 & 4 year old children? / Ask parents to complete the reverse of the Parent Agreement and enter these details on to the portal. N.B If a child received funding as a 2 year old; do not assume that a family automatically attracts EYPP funding.
If a child attends a setting for a few weeks before starting school, can that funding be claimed by the provider? / Yes. The provider must enter an end date for the claim on the portal and only claim the correct number of weeks and hours.
How does a family check the eligibility for their 2 year old child? / Parents can apply on-line via the EY Website or contact FIS on 0800 458 4114. Parents must apply to check to see if they meet the eligibility criteria before requesting a place with a registered provider. If the parent is eligible they will have a confirmation letter or email (either from Nottingham City or Nottinghamshire County Council).
How would a provider know if a family is eligible to funding for their 2 year old child? / The provider must confirm the child is eligible before offering a funded place by seeing a copy of the confirmation letter or email. Funding will commence from the date of the application by the parent. Funding cannot be backdated to the child’s start date. If you receive an eligibility letter from a parent who applied to another authority, please send a copy to the EY team.
Inputting hours on the headcount / The portal has been upgraded with an extra column for extended hours. When you are inputting hours the system will automatically complete the universal and extended, but please make sure that these hours are correct and the code has been checked via run new check, particularly if the child is splitting the entitlement between settings.
30 hours code dashboard / In the 30 hour section of the portal you can see a list of the children with codes and dates. These dates relate to when the code should be re-checked and grace periods for when a code runs out. The LA have a duty to audit these codes and inform settings when codes are nearing expiration. We will undertake this by updating the portal at regular times throughout the month, so please log in regularly to keep a check on the children whose dates are coming up and remind parents to re-check. There will also be a facility to update your list in between the LA automatically updating it; this will be a good way of finding out if a parent has re-checked if they stated that they re-checked the code “last night” for example.
For more details on grace periods and general 30 hours information please visit
Can a child start later in the term i.e. at the end of February? / A child can start at any point during the term as long as they haven’t claimed elsewhere and are eligible but not in their grace period. The provider must only claim the number of weeks they are able to deliver the free entitlement for a child up to 31stAugust 2018. If the provider offers a place after the portal has locked, they must inform EY immediately as per above.
Can the provider claim for a child on ‘extended family holiday’ i.e. longer than 2 weeks? / No. Only a period of a maximum 2 week holiday is acceptable during any one term. The manager must inform EY of the date the funding is to be suspended and then make contact again to resume the funding when the family returns. The setting must only claim for the weeks/hours that a child attends. If there is any deviation to a child’s attendance, providers must inform EY immediately.
Can the provider claim for a child who has a re-occurring illness? / Funding a child’s free entitlement during a long illness or re-occurring illness is at the discretion of the Local Authority. It is expected that the provider is in regular communication with the parents and is seen to be supportive of the family through a child’s illness.The manager must keep EY informed at all times.
Can the provider continue to claim funding for a child who isn’t attending? / No. It is expected that contact is made with the family regarding unauthorised absences and that reasons for non-attendance are established and recorded on the register. The manager must keep EY informed at all times.
Can the provider claim funding for lack of notice? / No. Funding cannot be claimed to cover the lack of notice or unpaid fees. Any debts incurred by parents/guardians, must be pursued by the setting. A provider cannot claim funding for an ‘empty place’. The funding must ‘follow the child’.
When will the balance payment for the spring term be made? / The payment is scheduled to be processed by Accounts Payable week ending20th July 2018.
Unlocking portal account (please note, your portal account will lock if you enter the incorrect password 3 times): / Due to the number of providers accessing the Headcount Portal and the increased number of requests to reset the accounts of users, we will be introducing a daily reset of all user accounts before 10am each morning.
This will mean that if a user locks their account after entering their password incorrectly 3 times, they cannot contact Early Years to reset it at their request. Users must wait until the next working day for their account to be reset.
Please note this change will be introduced from 1st January 2017.
Please note - Improved Password Strength Updates: / In order to ensure that passwords for the portal are sufficiently secure, the following strength requirements will be enforcedduring the term:
- Password must contain between 10 and 20 characters
- Password must contain one uppercase, one lowercase, one numeric and one special character
- Password must not be the same as the username
- New password cannot be the same as the previous 10 passwords
- New password cannot numerically increment the existing password, e.g. if the existing password is EarlyYears!32, the new password cannot be EarlyYears!33
Changes / Updates
There are no changes or updates.