Guidance

30 hours childcare for children aged 9 months and older in foster care: assessing eligibility

Updated 7 July 2026

Applies to England

Summary

Children aged 9 months and older in foster care are eligible for 30 hours childcare if their foster parent(s) meets certain eligibility criteria. This gives foster families the same support as other families, where that support is right for the child.^{[footnote 1]}

Children in foster care are eligible if:

• the responsible local authority agrees that the foster parent engaging in paid work outside of their fostering role is consistent with the child’s care plan – if so, they record that the foster parent can take up the 30-hour entitlement and update the care plan
• in a single-parent foster family, the foster parent engages in paid work outside of their fostering role (although there is no minimum-income requirement)
• in a 2-parent foster family, either both partners engage in paid work outside of their fostering role (although there is no minimum-income requirement for either) or one partner engages in paid work and the other receives certain qualifying benefits^{[footnote 2]}
• one partner is not a foster parent and is in qualifying paid work, earning a minimum of the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Minimum Wage, unless they are receiving certain qualifying benefits^{[footnote 2]}

As the eligibility checking system (ECS) and eligibility checking engine (ECE) are unable to perform the additional checks required, the Department for Education (DfE) has developed a parallel application process that uses existing delivery arrangements wherever possible.

The process is as follows:

1. The foster parent completes an application form.
2. It is counter-signed by a designated person determined by the responsible local authority, who confirms their eligibility.
3. The foster parent(s) reconfirms their eligibility every 3 months to mirror the existing process and support the work-enabling objective of the policy.

Key considerations

Throughout this document, we use the term ‘responsible local authority’ for the English authority that is looking after the child and is therefore the child’s corporate parent. If the local authority looking after the child is in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, the ‘responsible local authority’ is the English local authority in the area in which the child is currently living^{[footnote 3]}.

The ‘funding local authority’ is the local authority in which the child is taking up the fostering place and that is paying the provider. They may not be the same local authority.

When supporting foster parents, local authorities should be aware that:

• accessing the childcare entitlements will not be appropriate for every child in foster care, but they enable those foster parents who are working outside of their fostering role to access them, if it is right for the child.
• we are not expecting or requiring foster parents to work outside of their fostering role unless they choose to do so and this decision is supported by the fostering service – there is no requirement on the type of paid work or number of hours they must work to access the entitlements and no minimum-earnings limit, but they cannot have a net adjusted income of more than £100,000 a year
• the child in foster care does not have to take up the full hours available
• the local authority must fund the first 15 hours of childcare under early learning for 2-year-olds (for which a child in foster care is eligible regardless of the working status of their foster parent(s)^{[footnote 4]}) before they fund any working-parent hours – this, plus 15 hours under the working-parent entitlement, total 30 hours
• all 3- and 4-year-olds (including those in foster care) are eligible for the universal 15 hours of childcare, regardless of the working status of their foster parent(s)
• if circumstances change and a child in foster care ceases to be eligible for the entitlement for working parents, the responsible local authority should assess the child’s needs for early years provision as part of their care plan

Local authorities have the flexibility to develop local policies and processes for establishing the eligibility of children in foster care, but any process that is introduced should be:

• proportionate
• flexible
• aligned with existing processes as far as possible

This guidance is intended to help authorities develop approaches that fit their circumstances.

Checking eligibility

Stage 1: The foster parent(s) applies

Foster parents and social workers start discussions, either:

• as the child approaches the relevant age, or
• when a foster parent decides to take up additional work

These take place as part of the usual supervision meetings and review process.

The foster parent completes an application form. Local authorities can download an editable DfE template and add local information such as their logo and contact details. However, the information requested from foster parents should not be altered, as this is needed to ensure parity with the working-parent entitlement for other children and compliance with the regulations, and to generate the child’s eligibility code.

Once the form has been completed and signed by the foster parent(s), this will be the declaration as required by the regulations.

Stage 2: The responsible local authority confirms the foster parent(s) is eligible

The responsible authority sets its own process for checking that foster parents meet the eligibility criteria, which should be clear and made available to all foster parents.

They should set out:

• the role of the designated person
• who the designated person currently is and how to contact them
• what evidence the foster parent(s) is expected to provide
• how the foster parent(s) should return the form to the local authority
• how that evidence will be stored once the form is completed and approved
• the timeframe in which the designated person should respond to any application (which should be no longer than 4 weeks from receiving it)

Designated person

The designated person is an individual identified by the responsible local authority who must be able to confirm that:

• the foster parents are working outside of their fostering role, and
• this is consistent with the child’s care plan

Local authorities have flexibility to assign this role to reflect their existing practices.

The designated person could be the:

• child’s social worker
• supervising social worker
• independent reviewing officer (that is, the person appointed by the responsible local authority to protect the child’s interests throughout the care-planning process)

In some cases, the responsible authority may consider it appropriate for the foster parent to sign the application form and not require a second signature by the designated person. This must be agreed between the foster parent and the local authority before the application is made, and the decision should be recorded. The foster parent must inform the child’s social worker when they start the application process, if so, and the signed form needs to be sent directly to the contact in the local authority who is responsible for issuing the codes.

Evidence

The level of evidence required will depend on:

• how local authorities want to operate
• who is fulfilling the role of designated person

Local authorities should make clear to foster parents the evidence required. This could be stated on the application form.

The evidence needs to allow the designated person to be confident that the foster parent(s) is engaging in paid work outside of their fostering role, but they do not need to check the number of hours. The evidence might be:

• a payslip
• a job-offer letter
• proof of self-employment, such as a tax return

Alternatively, the designated person can email or call the child’s social worker to ask for confirmation.

If one partner in a couple is not a foster parent, the designated person will need to check that they are meeting the normal eligibility and income requirements for the working-parent entitlement.

Stage 3: The responsible local authority issues a code to the foster parent(s)

The responsible local authority issues an 11-digit eligibility code to the foster parent(s) for the working-parent entitlement. This is the equivalent of HMRC making a determination of eligibility for the entitlement. A foster child will be eligible from the beginning of the term after they reach the relevant age and receive confirmation of their eligibility from the local authority.

Once stage 2 has been completed and it has been agreed that the child should take up a place, the responsible local authority enters their details on the ECS or ECE to create their record. Further details on record creation are available on the ECS and ECE portals.

Once the code has been generated, the local authority emails this to the foster parent(s) and informs the social worker. The email should:

• include instructions for the foster parent(s) on taking the code to their provider to confirm their child’s place
• give information about the reconfirmation process
• make it clear that foster parents can use the code with any provider, even outside of the issuing local authority

Local authorities may want to make it clear to foster parents of 2-year-olds that:

• their first 15 hours of childcare is provided under early learning for 2-year-olds and the child will keep these hours regardless of any change of circumstance
• they will keep the 15 hours of early learning for 2-year-olds funding until the child turns 3, at which point they may move on to the universal 15-hour entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds
• they can only ever lose access to the additional 15 hours of working-parent entitlement

Local authorities may also want to make sure that providers are aware that these families must be recorded as receiving the early learning for 2-year-olds as well as the working-parent entitlement, to prevent the parent losing access to the first 15 hours if they stop working.

Stage 4: Provider checking and payment

Once the foster parent has received the code, the process is the same as for any other parent and child taking up the working-parent entitlement: the foster parent contacts a provider to agree a place, giving them the code to confirm it.

Local authorities should ensure that providers are aware that:

• codes beginning with 400 are legitimate, as well as those that start with 50 – the provider will be able to check the code’s eligibility using their local authority portal
• foster parents may not have access to all the documents (such as birth certificates) relating to the child in their care – in this situation, the letter or email from the local authority issuing the code can provide evidence of meeting the age criterion

Stage 5: Reconfirmation

Foster parents, like all parents accessing the working-parent entitlement, are required to reconfirm their eligibility every 3 months. The exact dates and intervals at which to reconfirm are set by the ECS or ECE system when the child’s record is created.

However, local authorities can determine the process and nature of evidence required. As set out in stage 2, this should be clear and transparent, and made available to foster parents when they first apply for a place.

As a minimum, the responsible authority should be satisfied that the:

• placement is still ongoing
• foster parent(s) is still engaging in paid work outside of their fostering role
• foster parent(s) working outside of their fostering role and taking up the entitlement is still consistent with the child’s care plan

The local authority may:

• ask the foster parent(s) for confirmation using a simple declaration form supported by evidence
• contact the child’s social worker to request a verbal confirmation

The responsible local authority will use the ECS or ECE report to help identify which of the codes they issued for children in foster care are approaching reconfirmation. At least 4 weeks before the end date, they should begin the reconfirmation process. Once they have received confirmation that foster parents are still eligible, they will need to update the child’s ECS and ECE record.

Funding local authorities will be able to see which children in foster care are accessing 30 hours childcare in their area during their regular audits, as their code will begin with a 400. They should include these codes in their normal processes.

However, local authorities should handle circumstances sensitively if the funding and responsible local authority are different. The responsible authority should be aware that if they have not initiated the reconfirmation process and the foster child enters their grace period, the funding authority will have contacted the provider, who will then tell foster parents they are no longer eligible.

Appeals process

If a foster parent is unhappy about the decision made by the local authority, they should seek resolution through either:

• their social worker
• the local authority complaints process

If the local authority complaints process does not reach a satisfactory conclusion, they should ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate further. More information on making a complaint to the ombudsman is available and foster parents can also call the advice line, on 0300 061 0614.

1. 2-year-olds who are looked after by the local authority are eligible for an early education place under the early learning for 2-year-olds entitlement regardless of their parent’s circumstances. ↩

2. These are as follows: limited capability for work or work-related activity under regulation 39 or 40 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (or NI equivalent) or receives one of the benefits specified in regulation 11A of the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022. ↩ ↩²

3. Refer to the definition of ‘responsible local authority’ in regulation 4(1) of the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022. ↩

4. Help paying for childcare: Free education and childcare for 2-year-olds ↩