Childcare Funding Scheme for 2-3 year olds

WQ.120/2026

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING

BY DEPUTY V. LI OF ST. HELIER NORTH

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 6th JULY 2026

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 13th JULY 2026

Question

"In relation to the Childcare Funding Scheme for 2 to 3-year-olds, will the Minister provide an update on the scheme, to include –

1. take-up of the scheme to date, including the number of approvals;
2. whether parents have raised any concerns with CYPES regarding the model of up-front payment for childcare and reimbursement by the Department and how any such concerns have been addressed;
3. the number of providers participating within the scheme; and
4. budgeted costs for each of the next 5 years?"

Answer

1. Data to 08.07.26.

537 applications have been approved for 409 families and a total of £1.4m has been paid out. The average number of days from application submission to initiation of payment is 8.5 days against an ambition of 20 days. The main reason for an application being rejected is invalid receipt'. This first cohort can continue to apply until the end of August 2026.

Data to 30.06.26

An additional 35 families have benefitted from supported payments which have been made and administered by the Jersey Childcare Trust. The total value of these payments is £63k.

2. No formal complaints have been received and logged on the department's complaints management system. The scheme remains in its 2-year pilot phase and feedback is constantly being reviewed to enable continuous improvement.
3. Claims have been made for children attending 50 registered providers.
4. The available and approved budget for 2026 – 2030 is:

Budget for 2030 has yet to be established however the 2029 budget is assumed to be allocated on a recurring basis.