Free Nursery Education - Find a freedom of information request

1. How many two year olds have been provided with free nursery education places by your local authority in each of the following three categories since 30 August 2019:

a. Their parents claim support under section four of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

b. They would be entitled to free early education provision if the normal financial criteria under the Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Regulations 2014 were applied and their parents were entitled to access public funds, and the parents either satisfy the criteria for a derivative right to reside under regulation 16(5) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 whether or not they have applied to the Home Office for confirmation of that status (which includes Zambrano carers); or have been granted leave to remain on Article 8 private and family life grounds, but with a condition of no recourse to public funds.

2. How many requests for funding for free nursery education for two year olds you have received from each of the groups specified in question one since 30 August 2019?

a. How many of those requests were successful?

3. What steps you take to publicise free nursery education for two year olds?

a. Do you undertake any specific outreach activities to try and ensure that families with two year old children who may benefit from free nursery education know about the entitlement and, if so, what are those activities?

b. Are those activities which you have identified in your answer aimed at any specific groups and, if so, which groups, and which activities target them?

c. What steps have your council has taken to specifically publicise the extension of eligibility since August 2019?

1.
a. Zero two year olds have been provided free nursery education by Lincolnshire County
Council (LCC) since 30 August 2019 by claiming support under section four of the
Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

b. One two year old has been provided with free nursery education by LCC due to the
parents either satisfying the criteria for a derivative right to reside under regulation 16(5) of
the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 whether or not they have
applied to the Home Office for confirmation of that status (which includes Zambrano
carers); or have been granted leave to remain on Article eight private and family life
grounds, but with a condition of no recourse to public funds.

2. One request for funding for free nursery education for two year olds was made for each group
since 30 August 2019.

a. One request for funding was successful.

3. The Department for Work and Pensions creates a list which is distributed to local authorities
seven times each year. This list includes the parent details for all potentially eligible
children. This is used to directly mail-out to all eligible families, encouraging them to access
their child's funded education place.

a. A termly report is produced which integrates children's NHS records with their free
childcare funding status. Health Visitors use the report to aid their conversations with
parents/carers to encourage the take up of funded places for two year olds.
Details of eligibility are also shared with locality teams and our commissioned service
that supports ethnic minority families to target families under the new criteria.

b. The outreach work includes all groups – including every child identified as eligible for
the two year old entitlement.

c. The local authority has included the additional criteria in all literature sent to childcare
providers delivering funded education places, and information to all professionals
working with families in Lincolnshire. The Lincolnshire County Council website is
updated to link directly to the Department of Education guidance which includes the
updated criteria.