Funding for the Early Years and Childcare Entitlement

Early Years Census

Most providers complete the Early Years Census.
Schools submit either the School Census or Early Years Census depending on registration status. Early years providers and schools provide data on the number of children taking up free entitlement places and the number of hours of free provision.

Census data informs national funding allocations.

Please note: From May 2026 the Census will change to a termly return

Childcare Sufficiency

Bolton Council has a legal duty to ensure sufficent childcare and provide information for families, including information on early education and childcare. Whilst the local authority is required to publish this information for parents, it is really important for providers across Bolton to regularly share details of the services that they are providing so that the information we publish is accurate.

Providers must:

• Update vacancies, costs, and services termly
• Respond to information requests

All of the information requested from providers is to help parents make informed choices, or to enable sufficiency to take place.