The Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1134) (“the 2022 Regulations”).

Regulation 2(2) of these Regulations amends the definition of “responsible local authority” in regulation 4(1) of the 2022 Regulations.

The amendment of regulation 11(1)(a) of the 2022 Regulations in regulation 2(3) of these Regulations clarifies that a person to whom regulation 11(1)(a) applies must also not be subject to immigration control. This provision, and part of the definition of “responsible local authority” were omitted in error from the 2022 Regulations, and as a consequence, these Regulations are being issued free of charge to all known recipients of that instrument.

Regulation 2(4) of these Regulations amends the table in regulation 12 of the 2022 Regulations to make it clear that a period of time described as “ending with” a specified day includes that specified day.

The amendments increase the availability of free of charge childcare for qualifying children of working parents in the following respects.

The amendment of regulation 13(2) of the 2022 Regulations in regulation 2(5)(a) of these Regulations requires childcare to be available free of charge in respect of qualifying children who have attained the age of two years on or after 1st April 2024.

The amendment of regulation 13(2) of the 2022 Regulations in regulation 2(5)(b) of these Regulations requires childcare to be available free of charge in respect of qualifying children who have attained the age of nine months on or after 1st September 2024.

In all cases, regulation 27 of the 2022 Regulations provides that a child is eligible for childcare under section 1 of the Childcare Act 2016 (c. 5) for the period beginning with whichever of 1st January, 1st April or 1st September is the first date on or after the day on which a declaration in respect of the child has effect, and ending before the day on which the child ceases to be a qualifying child of working parents.

The amendment of regulation 16(3) of the 2022 Regulations in regulation 2(6) of these Regulations provides that working parents who are on certain forms of specified leave (within the definition of that term in regulation 16(4) of the 2022 Regulations) relating to a young child in respect of whom a declaration is being made, do not have to meet the minimum income requirement in regulation 18 of the 2022 Regulations during the period of 31 days before the person returns to work.

Regulation 2(6) of these Regulations also omits the definition of “adoption leave” from regulation 16(4) of the 2022 Regulations in consequence of the amendment of regulation 16(3).

The amendment of regulation 20 of the 2022 Regulations in regulation 2(7) of these Regulations enables a declaration to be made in respect of a child who reaches the age of two years in the period of 13 weeks beginning with 1st January 2024 and ending with 31st March 2024 so that childcare may be available to such a child free of charge from 1st April 2024. In addition, this amendment enables a declaration to be made in respect of a child who reaches the age of nine months in the period of 13 weeks beginning with 1st June 2024 and ending with 31st August 2024 so that childcare may be available to such a child free of charge from 1st September 2024.

The amendment of regulation 44(2)(b) of the 2022 Regulations in regulation 2(8)(a) of these Regulations requires 30 hours of childcare to be available in respect of qualifying children of working parents from 1st September 2025.

The amendment of regulation 44 of the 2022 Regulations in regulation 2(8)(b) of these Regulations requires a local authority, when calculating the amount of childcare to be made available free of charge, to take account of childcare which is available free of charge to a young child under section 7 of the Childcare Act 2006 (c. 21) as follows:

• during the period beginning with 1st April 2024 and ending with 31st August 2025, the local authority is to take account of any childcare available to a child who meets the condition in regulation 3(2), but does not meet the condition in regulation 3(3), of the Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2147) (“the 2014 Regulations”), and

• from 1st September 2025, the local authority is to take account of any childcare available to a child who meets the condition in regulation 3(2) or (3) of the 2014 Regulations.

An Explanatory Memorandum is available alongside this instrument on https://www.legislation.gov.uk.

A full impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as no, or no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.