Disability Access Fund (DAF)

Service details

What is the Disability Access Fund (DAF)?

Since April 2017 the government has introduced a new funding measure for early years providers, the Disability Access Fund (DAF), to support children with disabilities or SEN.

The DAF supports access to early years childcare by, for example, supporting providers in making reasonable adjustments to their settings and or helping with building capacity (be that for the child in question or for the benefit of children as a whole attending the setting).


Who is eligible for DAF?

3 and 4 year olds will be eligible for the DAF if they meet the following criteria:

  • the child is in receipt of child disability living allowance (DLA) and;
  • the child receives free early education.

 

Note: Four-year olds in primary school reception classes are NOT eligible for DAF funding.

Children become eligible for free early education at different times in the year depending on when they turn 3 years of age.

 

How does the DAF entitlement work?

The settings of 3 and 4-year-olds eligible for the DAF will be entitled to receive a one-off payment of £910 per eligible child per year.

The DAF is not based on an hourly rate and is an additional entitlement. Children do not have to take up the full 570 hours of early education they are entitled to in order to receive the DAF.

Children in receipt of the DAF will be eligible when they take-up any period of free entitlement.

 

How are children who may be eligible identified?

Early years providers are responsible for identifying eligible children. Providers are encouraged to speak to parents in order to find out who is eligible for the DAF. Parents of children qualifying for Disability Living Allowance will be required to provide documented evidence of this entitlement, and providers will need to take a copy of this evidence.

 

What do parents or carers need to do?

Let your child’s nursery, school, childminder, or playgroup know if your child receives Disability Living Allowance and they are about to turn 3 or are now 3 or 4 years old.

 

How will early years providers receive DAF funding?

  • Hackney Education will fund the fixed annual rate of £910 per eligible child to the Hackney setting they attend.
  • The DAF will not be offset against any other funding that the local authority may ordinarily be providing for children eligible for the DAF.
  • The DAF is payable as a lump sum once a year per eligible child. If a child eligible for the DAF is splitting their free entitlement across two or more providers, the local authority will ask parents to nominate the main setting. This setting will be where the local authority will pay the DAF for the child.
  • If a child receiving DAF moves from one setting to another within a financial year, the new setting is not eligible to receive DAF funding for this child within the same financial year. DAF funding received by the original setting will not be recouped by the local authority.
  • Where a child lives in one authority area but attends a provider in a different local authority, the provider’s local authority is responsible for funding the DAF for the child and eligibility checking.
  • All early years providers who are eligible to receive funding for the 3-and 4-year-old early education entitlement are also eligible to receive the DAF.

 

How do providers or settings claim DAF funding?

To claim the funding Early Years providers have been given details of how to identify eligible children via the termly free entitlement census collection, and how to submit a copy of the child’s DLA (Disability Living Allowance) Award letter to the Early Years team by secure file transfer website.

Early Years providers who would like more information on how to access this funding should contact Hackney's Family Information Service.

E-mail: fis@hackney.gov.uk

Phone: 020 8820 7590

Notes

Parents or Carers are not able to apply for this funding themselves.

It is settings that need to apply on behalf of eligible children attending their settings.  

SEND Local Offer

Local Offer Age Bands
Early Years and Pregnancy 0-4
SEN Provision Type
  • Targeted
  • Specialist

Who to contact

Contact Position
Early Years - Finance and Administration
Telephone
020 8820 7482 (Early Years providers queries) 020 8820 7482 (Early Years providers queries)
E-mail
claudia.thomas@hackney.gov.uk
Website
education.hackney.gov.uk/.../childcare-family-support-and-childrens-centres
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Where to go

Name
Hackney Education 3rd Floor
Address
Hackney Service Centre
1 Hillman Street
Hackney
Postcode

E8 1DY

View E8 1DY on a map
Venue Notes

This is a fund for eligable children and is not venue specific. 

Other details

Who is eligible?

Eligibility

Three and four year olds will be eligible for the DAF if they meet the following criteria:

• the child is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• the child receives the universal 15 hours entitlement

Please note:

Children do not have to take up the full 570 hours of early education that they are entitled to in order to receive the DAF. Children will be eligible where they take up any period of free entitlement and receive DLA.

4 year olds in primary school reception classes are not eligible for DAF funding.


Identifying eligible children

Early years providers are responsible for identifying eligible children and are encouraged to use the Department’s parent declaration template, which includes a DAF declaration, to do so.

Referral required?

Yes

What to do if you have a complaint

How you feel about having used a service is important. Services often ask you for feedback about your experience. This is to help them understand how to make sure people they work with have a good experience.

If you have feedback about this service, something you liked or were not happy with, you can talk to the person who worked with you or, if you feel more comfortable, a service manager. They will try to help sort out any problems.

If you are still not happy with the service you can raise your concerns formally. This means someone who is not part of the service will look at your feedback or concern and see if anything can or needs to be done to help make things better.

If you need to make a formal complaint you can use the London Borough of Hackney complaints procedure.

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