uksi/2024/66 — The School and Early Years Finance and Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024

2024 No. 66 Children And Young Persons, England Education, England The School and Early Years Finance and Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024 Made 18th January 2024 Laid before Parliament 22nd January 2024 Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1(2) The Secretary of State for Education makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 45A, 45AA, 47, 47ZA, 47A(4B) and (5), 48(1) and (2), 49(2) and (2A), 138(7) of, and paragraph 2B of Schedule 14 to, the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, section 24(3) of the Education Act 2002 and sections 99(1) and 104(2) of the Childcare Act 2006. PART 1 Introduction Citation, commencement, extent, application and interpretation 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Revocation 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amendments 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 2 Action to be taken by a local authority CHAPTER 1 Determination of the non-schools education budget, schools budget, individual schools budget, and budget shares The non-schools education budget 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Initial determination of a local authority’s schools budget 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The schools budget 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exceptions 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Determination of the individual schools budget for the funding period and limit on increase in central expenditure 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Consultation 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Formulae for determination of budget shares etc. for certain maintained schools and early years providers 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Determination of allocation of budget shares etc. for the funding period 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 2 Further deductions and variations to limits authorised by schools forums or the Secretary of State Applications to the schools forum and the Secretary of State 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 3 Determination of budget shares etc. CHAPTER 1 Requirements, and factors and criteria taken into account – schools other than early years provision Pupil numbers 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Places 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Social deprivation - primary and secondary schools 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lump sums for primary and secondary schools 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Low prior attainment factor 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . English as an additional language 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mobility factor 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The London fringe 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The sparsity factor 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Risk protection arrangement 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Split sites factor 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional criteria: schools 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Requirements relating to the calculation of local authority funding formula 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minimum per pupil amount 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minimum funding guarantee 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sixth form funding 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New schools, merged schools and closing schools 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federated schools 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 2 Criteria taken into account – early years provision Special arrangements for pupils in maintained nursery schools and nursery classes and for children receiving relevant early years provision and community early years provision 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Social deprivation for early years 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Early years pupil premium 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disability access fund 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Differential funding 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Early years 95% requirement 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12% early years discretionary funding cap 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional criteria and disadvantaged two year olds requirement: early years 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER 3 Adjustments, correction of errors, and alternative arrangements authorised by the Secretary of State Pupils permanently excluded from, or leaving, maintained schools 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Correction of errors and changes in non-domestic rates 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alternative arrangements approved by the Secretary of State 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 4 Schemes Required content of schemes 42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Approval by the schools forum or the Secretary of State of proposals to revise schemes 43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Publication of schemes 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 5 Amendments to the Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) Regulations 2009 Information to be provided under the Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) Regulations 2009 45 1 The Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) Regulations 2009 are amended as follows. 2 In regulation 2 (interpretation) — a for ““the 2017 Regulations”” and the associated definition, substitute— “ the 2024 Regulations ” means the School and Early Years Finance and Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024; ; b in the definition of “disability access fund”, for “regulation 18(3) of the 2017 Regulations” substitute “regulation 34(5) of the 2024 Regulations” ; c in the definition of early years pupil premium”, for “the 2017 Regulations” substitute “the 2024 Regulations” . 3 In the Schedule— a omit paragraphs 10 to 11; b for paragraph 12 substitute— 12 1 The number of weeks during the funding period in which the child is expected to receive at least one hour of funded early years provision pursuant to each of the entitlements separately. 2 Where the child receives at least one hour of funded early years provision during a specified week in the funding period, the number of hours of funded early years provision received pursuant to each of the entitlements separately during that week. 3 Where the child receives at least one hour of early years provision that is funded by the local authority in excess of funded early years provision during a specified week in the funding period, the number of such hours received during that week. 4 Where a child receives at least one hour of early years provision during a specified week in the funding period, the total number of hours received during that week. 5 In this paragraph— a “ the entitlements ” means each of the following— i funded early years provision prescribed for the purposes of section 7(1) of the Act where— aa a child meets the condition in regulation 3(2) but not the condition in regulation 3(3) of the Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Regulations 2014 (“the disadvantaged two year old entitlement”); bb a child meets the condition in regulation 3(3) of the 2014 Regulations (“the universal three and four year old entitlement”); ii funded early years provision specified for the purposes of section 2(1) of the Childcare Act 2016 where a child is a qualifying child of a working parent— aa during the period commencing with the earliest of the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of nine months and ending with the earliest of the next 31st March, 31st August or 31st December after the child attains the age of three years (“the working parent under three year old entitlement”); bb during the period commencing with the earliest of the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of three years (“the working parent three and four year old entitlement”); b funded early years provision is expected to be received by a child if the child’s parent or carer has arranged the provision with the early years provider; c “ the funding period ” means each period of up to 12 months during the relevant entitlement period; d “ qualifying children of working parents ” has the meaning given by section 1(2) of the Childcare Act 2016; e “ the relevant entitlement period ” means— i in respect of the working parent under three year old entitlement, the period commencing with the earliest of the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of nine months and ending with the earliest of the next 31st March, 31st August or 31st December after the child attains the age of three years; ii in respect of the disadvantaged two year old entitlement, the period commencing with the earliest of the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of two years and ending with the earliest of the next 31st March, 31st August or 31st December after the child attains the age of three years; iii in respect of universal three and four year old entitlement and the working parent three and four year old entitlement, the period commencing with the earliest of the next 1st April, 1st September or 1st January after the child attains the age of three years; f “ a specified week ” means a week (and may include more than one week) specified in a request for information mentioned in regulation 4(1) or (2) or 4A(1) ; and c in paragraph 14— i omit sub-paragraphs (2) and (3); and ii insert— 2 If the provider is in receipt of the early years pupil premium in relation to the child, whether, if it is known, the eligibility derives from sub-paragraph (2)(a), (2)(b) or (6) of regulation 33 of the 2024 Regulations (early years pupil premium). . Damian Hinds Minister of State Department for Education 18th January 2024 SCHEDULE 1 CLASSES OR DESCRIPTIONS OF PLANNED EXPENDITURE PRESCRIBED FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE NON-SCHOOLS EDUCATION BUDGET OF A LOCAL AUTHORITY Regulation 4 Special educational provision 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Access to education 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional education and training for children, young persons and adults 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other functions 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCHEDULE 2 CLASSES OR DESCRIPTIONS OF PLANNED EXPENDITURE PRESCRIBED FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE SCHOOLS BUDGET OF A LOCAL AUTHORITY WHICH MAY BE DEDUCTED FROM IT TO DETERMINE THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS BUDGET Regulations 6 and 8 PART 1 Historic commitments 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 2 Central schools expenditure 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 3 Other central education expenditure Asset management 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Strategic management 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other functions 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 4 Central early years expenditure 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 5 Children and young people with high needs 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 6 Items that may be removed from maintained schools’ budget shares – primary and secondary schools 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 7 Items that may be removed from maintained schools’ budget shares – primary, secondary and special schools and pupil referral units 53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART 8 Deficit from previous funding period 81 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCHEDULE 3 MINIMUM FUNDING GUARANTEE Regulation 27 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCHEDULE 4 CONTENTS OF SCHEMES Regulation 42 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . These Regulations make provision for local authorities’ financial arrangements in relation to the funding of maintained schools and providers of funded early years provision in England, for the financial year 2024-2025. They also contain minor amendments to the Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1554). The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/27) are revoked on 1st April 2024. The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/59) remain in force. Part 2 defines the non-schools education budget (regulation 4 and Schedule 1), the schools budget (regulation 6 and Schedule 2), central expenditure and the individual schools budget (regulation 8 and Schedule 2). It requires local authorities to determine budget shares for schools maintained by them and amounts to be allocated in respect of early years provision in their areas, in accordance with the appropriate formulae (regulations 10 and 11). Chapter 1 of Part 2 deals with the determination of budget shares for schools. Regulations 13 and 15 to 23 make provision for specific factors that the local authority must include in their local funding formulae for certain schools. The allowable ranges for these amounts or sums are set in relation to the distance between their respective value in the national funding formula, and for all mandatory factors other than the split site factor, the value in the local authority’s funding formula in the previous funding period (financial year 2023 – 2024). Regulation 24 specifies additional criteria which may, or must, be taken into account in setting budgets for certain schools. The Regulations also impose a minimum per pupil amount (regulation 26) and a minimum funding guarantee for schools (regulation 27 and Schedule 3). Regulations 28 to 30 make provision for calculation of budgets in relation to specific types of school or specific circumstances. Chapter 2 of Part 3 deals with early years provision and requires local authorities’ formulae to take into account the predicted hours of attendance (with provision for review and redetermination on the basis of information about actual hours of attendance) (regulation 31) and to include one or more social deprivation factors (regulation 32). Regulations 33 and 34 provide for additional amounts to be included in respect of children in specified circumstances (regulation 33) and disabled children (regulation 34). There is a requirement to pass 95% of funding to early years providers (regulation 36) and a 12% limit on the amount of funding that may be attributable to the discretionary (supplementary) part of the early years formulae (regulation 37). There are also requirements in relation to local authorities’ schemes (regulation 42 and Schedule 4). Part 5 of these Regulations contains minor amendments to S.I 2009/1554. Paragraphs (1), (2) and 3(c) of regulation 45 make amendments to regulation 2 (interpretation) of, and paragraph 14 of the Schedule to, S.I. 2009/1554, which are consequential to the regulations applying to the 2024-25 financial year in Parts 1 to 4 of, and the Schedules to, these Regulations. Paragraph (3)(a) and (b) of regulation 45 amends the Schedule to S.I. 2009/1554 to simplify the way a “stretched” free entitlements (when a child takes fewer hours a week of free provision over more weeks of the year) is recorded on the Early Years Census and to provide for the phased introduction of the Government’s expansion of free early years entitlements to qualifying children aged 9 months to 2 years of working parents from 1st April 2024. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.