Eligibility criteria
From April 2024, children will be eligible if they are 2, 3 or 4 years old and receiving government-funded Free Entitlement in any OFSTED registered childcare provider and their parents/carers are in receipt of at least one of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit - where the household income must be less than £7,400 a year after tax not including any benefits they get
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Income related Employment and Support Allowance
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit, providing they do not also receive Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
or if they have been:
- looked after by the local authority for at least one day
- have been adopted from care in the local authority
- have left care through special guardianship; and subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom the child is to live (formerly known as residence orders) in Central Bedfordshire