What was the entitlement in England before the 31 August 2022?
Since 2013, children from families in receipt of specified benefits or who were looked after by the local authority were entitled to 15 hours free childcare across 38 weeks of the year.
In 2019, this was extended to two-year-olds from three groups of families with NRPF:
- Dependent children of Zambrano Carers
- Children of families with no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights
- Children of families supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
What are the changes in England from the 1 September 2022 onwards?
The Department for Education has now confirmed the extension of Free Early Education to all disadvantaged 2-year-olds, including of households who may face restrictions accessing benefits.
The change has been implemented following the completion of the government consultation on entitlement for early education for 2-year-olds with no recourse to public funds.
Readers can refer to the NRPF Network’s updated webpages for further information on eligibility for education and childcare, including the links to the schemes that are available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Commentary
The extension of free childcare is a very welcome news for families on low income who may not be able to claim benefits and comes only a few months after the permanent extension of eligibility for free school meals.
The NRPF Network, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and the Local Government Association (LGA) emphasised in the May 2022 consultation response the importance of not linking entitlement to childcare provision to specific forms of immigration status because of complexities surrounding different statuses and related entitlements.
The NRPF Network is satisfied that the government has listened to the views of local authorities and that the changes to childcare entitlements will now help relieve financial pressures for all low-income families regardless of their immigration status or benefit entitlement.
Ensuring the widest possible access to government initiatives to help employment or ease financial pressures on household budgets is necessary when so many people living in the UK are affected by the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition. Lessons learned from enabling access to childcare and school meals should be applied to current cost of living support measures which remain predominately directed at people with a benefit entitlement at the expense of those not afforded basic welfare state protections.