How do I invoice parents who get the Childcare Offer for Wales?
The Childcare Offer for Wales funds childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds whose parents are working, studying or training. For providers, the hard part isn't the paperwork, it's the invoice: what you can charge, what you can't, and how to make it clear to parents.
What the Childcare Offer pays
- £6.67 an hour per eligible child, or £3.34 for a half-hour.
- Up to 48 weeks a year: 39 weeks of term time, plus 9 weeks of the school holidays at up to 30 hours a week.
What you can't charge
- No top-ups on the hourly rate. If your normal rate is more than £6.67 an hour, you can't ask parents using the Childcare Offer to pay the difference for their funded hours. The Welsh Government says providers who do this could lose their Childcare Offer funding.
- No extra charges for routine activities on site.
- No extras you don't charge other parents. If something is included in your standard fees, it has to be included for Childcare Offer parents too.
What you can charge
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Food, if you normally charge for it separately, up to a daily cap:
- full day (about 10 hours): £11.25 (three meals at £3.13 and two snacks at 94p);
- half day (about 5.5 hours): £7.20.
Parents must be allowed to send a packed lunch if you normally allow it, and you should make clear what the food charge is for.
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Transport for pick-ups and drop-offs. The Welsh Government doesn't set a rate, but it has to be reasonable and no more than you charge other parents.
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Off-site activities that cost money. They should be occasional, parents must be able to opt out, and taking part can't be a condition of the place.
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Retainer and holding fees. The Childcare Offer doesn't cover things like holiday retainers or upfront holding fees, so parents pay these.
What a clear invoice looks like
Parents trust an invoice they can follow. For each Childcare Offer child, show:
- the hours used and how many were funded;
- any hours on top of the Childcare Offer, at your normal rate;
- food, by day, within the cap;
- any transport or optional trips, listed separately.
If a parent can see the funded hours and every extra on its own line, there's nothing to query.
How Wootzoo helps
In Wootzoo you mark which sessions are Childcare Offer and set the rate per hour. Invoices work out the funded hours on each session up to the weekly allowance, and bill the parent only for the rest. If you'd rather parents pay the same every month, you can spread the year's fees over 12 months, with the 48 funded weeks shared equally.
Sources
- Welsh Government, Childcare Offer for Wales: guidance for providers (last updated 2 April 2026): https://www.gov.wales/childcare-3-and-4-year-olds-policy-guidance-providers
