Sheffield City Council has approved government plans to increase extended entitlement, offering funded childcare for children as young as 9-months.

Extended entitlement is currently available for qualifying parents of  three and four-year-olds but from April this year, two-year-olds will now have 15 hours of funded childcare for 38 weeks per year too.

This will increase to children as young as nine months by September 2025.

Christina Fourie, 48, a Childcare worker from Walkley said: “It’s a big ask for nurseries to adapt to these changes. Many workers could not cope with switching from four-year-olds to nine-month old babies.”

The funding comes from the new national extended entitlement of £14.743 million for Sheffield, which will aid over 370 nurseries in rolling out this childcare.

Joe Horobin, the Director of Integrated Commissioning, said at a meeting of the city council’s Education, Children and Families Policy Committee on 26 February: “Good quality childcare is fundamental, providing social and economic benefits to families and to our children.”

In the Spring Budget 2023, it was announced that widespread change would be part of a 3-step process from April 2024 to September 2025, as shown below. 

Councillor Dawn Dale said at the same meeting: “We undervalue early years workers.”

She also said that childcare workers should be paid more if the Council wants to meet rising demands. 

Parents must fit the criteria of earning up to £100,000 a year and more than at least £167 per week to be eligible. This is much wider than the previous criteria which makes the scheme more accessible than before.

The expected take-up of April’s offer would see over a 100% increase in children aged two years receiving funded childcare.

Find other council stories:

Major funding boost for two new neighbourhoods in Sheffield

Over 90% of Sheffield students allocated their first preference secondary school

“It feels like revenge”: Anger towards proposed council maintenance plans