Wraparound Childcare Scheme (WAC) for service families

Posted on 8 September 2022 in News and updates

Before and after school childcare providers for primary school aged children need to know that from the start of this term service families can be funded for up to 20 hours a week.

From Autumn 2022, eligible Service personnel (Tri-Service) can apply for up to 20 hours per week, term time only (39 weeks per year) of wraparound childcare funding for 4- to 11-year-old children attending before and after school clubs in the UK – Childcare for service children – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This could offer a real boost to your provision, increasing the numbers of children attending as well as the number of hours accessed. To benefit you must be signed up to the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme to be able to take this funding (as well as TFC). Parents will pay for provision through their childcare account.

The MOD has promoted this to the Army, Navy and Air Force but schools may also want to promote this offer to service families who are not currently using before and after school care. All providers should market this through their website and communications with families. Within Devon services families are spread throughout the county, however we would expect that providers in the following areas would benefit from promoting this offer as there are military establishment nearby:

  • Plymouth Borders
  • Somerset Borders (Taunton)
  • Braunton
  • Instow
  • Dartmouth
  • Okehampton
  • Exeter
  • Lympstone/Exmouth

How do Service families claim Wraparound childcare funding?

To benefit from the WAC scheme, personnel must complete five steps in sequential order.

  1. RECORD each child on JPA.
  2. CHECK:
    1. If you meet the WAC Eligibility flowchart
    2. If your family will financially benefit from having a Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account OR a salary sacrifice childcare voucher scheme. You cannot have both at the same time. To make an informed decision about which scheme suits you best, you can use the childcare calculator on GOV.UK (the ‘How to claim’ flowchart has details of the 20% HMRC and 80% WAC funding breakdown).
    3. How your tax allowances and brackets can be affected using the ‘Grossing up’ information.
  3. APPLY: If your family is eligible and you choose to claim WAC funding, apply for a TFC account for each child on GOV.UK. Wait until the TFC account is activated and you have your account number.
  4. REGISTER each child by completing the Registration form on defnet or Defence Connect (personnel only). For this, you will need the:
      1. TFC account number.
      2. Childcare provider(s) details, including provider type (school or childminder) and region.
      3. Details and evidence of any child in receipt of certain government allowances that will make them eligible for the higher rate of WAC and TFC funding.

Wait for an email confirmation before step 5.

5. CLAIM WAC funding from 1 September 2022 by following steps in the ‘How to claim’ flowchart. This includes using the Claims calculator on defnet or Defence Connect (personnel only) to work out the amount you can claim.