All Vale two-year-olds get funded hours from 2 November. Here's how to bill it.

It's all change from the 2nd November 2026

From 2 November 2026, every two-year-old in the Vale of Glamorgan can get up to 12.5 hours a week of Welsh Government funded childcare,  EVERYWHERE in the Vale.  Until now this has been limited to Flying Start areas. Private settings can offer it too, not just Flying Start settings.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council announced it this month.

If you haven't signed up to offer it yet, the council's team is on 01446 725 106 or [email protected].

Who's eligible, and when

A child can get the funding from the term after their 2nd birthday until the term after their 3rd birthday. It's term time only, up to 12.5 hours a week.

Where billing gets fiddly

The funding is simple on paper. It gets harder once it meets your own fees on a real invoice.

Every child starts and stops at a different time.  Eligibility follows each child's birthday, so funding switches on and off for different children through the year. A child who's funded this term may not be next year, and their bill needs to change on the right date.

Holiday weeks aren't funded. It's term time only. If a child attends in the school holidays, those weeks are charged at your normal price.

The parent's share moves around. Parents pay the difference between your fees and the funded hours, and that changes from month to month as the number of term weeks changes. November, with a full month of term, looks very different from December or August.

Check your daily limit. Ask your council whether funded hours are capped per day as well as per week. It makes a real difference for a child who comes fewer days but longer hours.

If you bill the same amount every month

Lots of settings charge parents an equal amount each month and spread the year's fees evenly. Spreading term-time funding the same way takes a decision about which months it comes off. If that's how you bill, we'd love to hear how you've done it. We're working on this with a nursery at the moment.

How Wootzoo handles it

In Wootzoo you mark which sessions are funded and set your funded rate per hour, plus a daily and weekly limit. Each child has "eligible from" and "eligible until" dates, and your holidays are on your calendar. On every monthly invoice the funding comes off automatically: only on funded days, only while that child is eligible, and never in your holidays. The parent pays the rest.

Not just the Vale

The Vale is one of the first councils to open this up to every two-year-old. Swansea already does, and Welsh Government's aim is to reach every two-year-old in Wales. Check with your own council for their date.