National Wraparound Childcare Programme

• The government announced, in the Spring Budget in March 2023, a national wraparound programme to support access to wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm.
• ‘Wraparound childcare’ refers to provision directly before and after the school day during school term time for school age children
• This provision can be offered by schools and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers (including childminders and early years settings) and can be run on a school site or at another setting in the area. It should not require parents to pick their children up from school and drop them off at another location.
• Increased availability of wraparound care to be available from September 2024.

Grant Funding

• Grant funding will be available. This may include capital projects.
• The programme is designed to fund the initial setup or expansion of wraparound provision where there is clear demand, and remove the financial risk of setting up or expanding wraparound provision where sufficient demand is not guaranteed to sustain provision from the start but where sufficient demand may be built over time as parents are assured of the supply of places. The funding is intended to create new places and not to sustain existing provision.
• Levels of funding and grant criteria to be confirmed late spring/ early summer 2024. Funding will be targeted to areas of undersupply and to projects that demonstrate they will be self-sustaining from the end of the planned programme (i.e. 2026 onwards).

• Wraparound childcare guidance for schools
• Wraparound childcare: guidance for local authorities

Briefings for schools/ providers and prospective providers are on Wednesday 24 April 2024 and can be booked through the Chess hub. Monitor this page for updates or email Earlyyearsandchildcareteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk if you would like any further information.

Page last reviewed: 15 February 2024