Everything you need to know about the 15% reduction in childcare fees as part of the Northern Ireland Childcare Support Scheme
What is it?
The Northern Ireland Childcare Support Scheme (NICSS) is designed to reduce childcare costs by 15% for working parents of children who are below school age.
In May, the Education Minister Paul Givan, announced a £25m financial package to reduce childcare bills for families across Northern Ireland. As part of the scheme, parents of children below primary school age children can receive a 15% reduction on their childcare bills every week. The funding also entitles all three-to-four-year-olds to 22.5 hours of pre-school education a week.
The scheme is administered by Early Years – the organisation for young children – on behalf of the Department of Education.
Who is eligible?
Any parent who is registered for Tax Free Childcare and has a child, who is not yet enrolled in Primary School, is entitled to the 15% childcare subsidy providing their childcare provider is signed up with HMRC as a Tax-Free Childcare Supplier.
If you are not yet registered for Tax Free Childcare you can register online at the Government website. To be eligible for Tax Free Childcare you must have a child under 11, (16, if they have a disability) and be earning between the national minimum wage for 16 hours and £100,000 a year.
How to apply?
The NICSS reduction will not automatically be applied to your bill, you MUST register your child online with Early Years. To do this you can create a parent account by visiting the Early Years’ online portal here
If you have more than one eligible child you will have to follow this process for each of them.
What do I need to apply?
Before applying check that your childcare provider is registered for the scheme.
You will need to have the following information which can be found by logging into your Tax Free Childcare Account:
- Your child’s Tax Free Childcare registration number
- A screenshot of the quarterly Tax Free Childcare confirmation letter from HMRC that clearly shows the name of your child and the quarterly expiration date.
Anything else you need to know?
Parents can claim 15% of childcare costs back up to £167 per child per month. Early years have said that this figure will be reviewed in light of the data collected when the scheme launches in September.
The deadline for September registration was August 19, 2024 and parents who apply after this time will have their discount applied for the next eligible month.
