Northumberland county council - SEND Guide to services

2 CHILDCARE AND SHORT BREAKS
INTRODUCTION
Information on childcare in Northumberland, including childcare suitable for children
with disabilities and special educational needs, can be found on the Northumberland
County Council website at www.northumberland.gov.uk (search for ‘Childcare in
Northumberland’) or phone the Families Information Service on 0800 0234440.
All three and four-year-olds are entitled to free high-quality early education, starting
in the term after a child’s third birthday until compulsory school age; the school year
after they have their fourth birthday. The current universal free entitlement is 570 hours
a year; the equivalent of 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. From September
2017 working parents may be eligible for 1140 hours per year; the equivalent of 30
hours a week for 38 weeks. However, parents may choose to use their entitlement
over a longer period of time within the year. Parents/carers of two-year-olds who meet
a range of criteria are entitled to 570 hours a year of free high-quality early years
education or childcare (as described above), from the term after a child’s second
birthday until the end of the term in which they are three. This includes some children
with disabilities.
A list of childcare providers delivering the two, three and four-year-old funded
places and a downloadable guide which covers both schemes is available on the
Northumberland County Council website at www.northumberland.gov.uk (search
for Early Education) or contact the Families Information Service on 0800 023 4440.
If you look after a child or young person (your own or another person’s) who cannot
manage without your help because of their disability or special needs, then you are
a carer. If you provide care on a regular basis you have a right to a Carer’s Needs
Assessment. This assessment is designed to find out what support you may need
for your caring role and to help look after your own health and wellbeing. This may
include support in the home, childminding, holiday activity schemes and short breaks,
or money from the Local Authority’s social care service so you can arrange this help
yourself. As a carer you may also be entitled to a benefit called Carers Allowance.
For further details please refer to the ‘Social Care’ and ‘Financial Help’ sections of this
guide.
The Short Break Care Duty requires Local Authorities to notify the carers of disabled
children about short break services in their area and the ‘eligibility criteria’ for accessing
them. Some short break schemes are described as ‘universal’ which means they are
available to all children and an assessment is not required. Further information can be
found in the ‘Social Care’ section of this guide.