GovWire

Wraparound Childcare

Childcare is a concern that continues to be raised on behalf of Service families by the Families Federations and other stakeholders. The concern has been reflected in recent surveys carried out by the Families Federations, the wider Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) and the Families Continuous Attitude Survey (FAMCAS).

Feedback fromAFCASandFAMCAShighlighted that a lack of good quality, enriching and appropriate childcare has a significant impact on partner employment, which can influence Service personnels decisions on whether to stay in or leave the Armed Forces.

In recognition of the issues that some Service families face when trying to access wraparound childcare and its potential negative impact on retention, Defence launched the Wraparound Childcare (WAC) scheme in September 2022.

Eligible Service personnel (Tri-Service) can register for up to 20 hours a week per child during term time only (39 weeks per year) of wraparound childcare funding for 4 to 11-year-old children (4 to 16 years if in receipt of certain disability benefits) attending before and after school childcare in the UK or eligible overseas locations.

Eligibility criteria for WAC UK

• This scheme is open to Regular and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) (all commitment types) personnel. Service personnel will be eligible following their completion of Phase 1 training until their termination date.
• The child for whom the Service person has parental responsibility must be aged 4 to 11 years (4 to 16 years if in receipt of certain disability benefits), must attend school (including home education) and be living with the serving person for at least 50% of the time unless separated due to Service commitments (deployment, residential courses), or when serving on unaccompanied assignments overseas with the family remaining in the UK.
• An active Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account must be set up with HRMC for each child that a Service person wants to claim funding for. Active means that you reconfirm your account every 3 months and receive the 20% top-up from HMRC when you add money into the account.
• The childcare provider must also be signed up to the TFC scheme and be able to accept TFC payments.
• The Service parent has either an assignment order to a UK-based unit, or is serving on an unaccompanied assignment overseas with the family remaining in the UK.
• The Service person and their partner (or a sole parent in a lone parent family) must be in paid employment, self-employed, starting or re-starting work within the next 31 days, and have a weekly income equivalent to at least 16 hours at the National Minimum or Living Wage.
• Both parents (or a sole parent in a lone parent family) must each have an adjusted net income of 100,000 or less per annum.

Eligibility criteria for WAC Overseas (WAC(O))

• This scheme is open to Regular and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) (all commitment types) personnel. Service personnel will be eligible following their completion of Phase 1 training until their termination date.
• The Service person has an assignment to a location within the European Economic Area & Switzerland (EEA&S) or uses a Defence Children Services (DCS) school or setting overseas for before and after school childcare.
• The child for whom the Service person has parental responsibility must be aged 4 to 11 years (4 to 16 years if in receipt of certain disability benefits), must attend school (including home education) and be living with the Serving person for at least 50% of the time unless separated due to service commitments (deployment, residential courses).
• An active Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account must be in place with HMRC for each child that a Service person wants to claim funding for, whether using DCS or host nation childcare providers. Active means that you reconfirm your account every 3 months and receive the 20% top-up from HMRC when you add money into the account, or receive the 20% top-up from the manual TFC process if using host nation childcare providers.
• If using host nation providers, the provider must be registered, regulated and inspected by host nation authorities.
• The Service person and their partner (or a sole parent in a lone parent family) must be in paid employment, be self-employed, starting or re-starting work within the next 31 days and have a weekly income equivalent to at least 16 hours at the National Minimum or Living Wage.
• Both partners (or a sole parent in a lone parent family) must have an adjusted net income of 100,000 or less per annum each.

How to claim

Service families can check if they are eligible for WACand find out how claim funding by searching Wraparound Childcare on the Discover My Benefits website.

Contact

• Contact your unit HR team or admin office for queries about claims.
• For policy questions, email: PEOPLE-AFFS-WAC-FRO-mailbox@mod.gov.uk

For more information onWAC visit: Defence childcare information (accessible by MOD personnel only) or Defence Connect (sign-in required).

United Kingdom (UK)

There are a number of childcare options for parents to choose from. Parents should go to Childcare Choices for further information and guidance on all available government childcare schemes.

England

For the current offer in England and guidance, parents should visit Childcare Choices.

You can also check to see if youre eligible forTax-Free Childcare (TFC). You can getTFCat the same time as 15 or 30 hours free childcare if youre eligible for both.

Scotland

For the current childcare offer in Scotland and information about early learning and childcare (ELC), parents should visit: Parent Club or mygov.scot.

Wales

For the current childcare offer in Wales, parents should visit the Welsh Government website.

Northern Ireland

For the current childcare offer in Northern Ireland and guidance, parents should contact 38 (Irish) Brigade at RC-AWS-38X-0mailbox@mod.gov.uk.

Returning from overseas or moving within the UK

30 hours free childcare codes are not valid overseas.

If you are returning from overseas or moving within the UK, please visit 