How it works for parents

How do I find ECE services in my area that are offering 20 Hours ECE?

You can search the ECE Listing on the Ministry of Education website. The ECE Listing provides details of all ECE services in New Zealand and is updated every month. You can search for ECE services in your area and the ones that offer 20 Hours ECE are shown with a flag beside them. You can also restrict your search to show only ECE services that offer 20 Hours ECE in your area.

If you already have an ECE service in mind; you can contact it directly and ask if it offers 20 Hours ECE.

If I am employing my own nanny directly, can I get 20 Hours ECE?

Home-based ECE services are eligible to offer 20 Hours ECE. Home-based ECE services operate in many different ways. Your nanny will need to be part of a licensed home-based ECE service, and the home-based service provider needs to ensure you do not pay fees either to them or the nanny for the hours of 20 Hours ECE. The Ministry of Education provides funding for 20 Hours ECE to ECE services, not to individual people who work for ECE services.

How do I register my child for 20 Hours ECE?

If you would like to register for 20 Hours ECE, you will first need to talk to your child’s ECE service. If you have not yet chosen one you can find one in the ECE Listing.

Once you have chosen an ECE service, you will need to complete and sign an Enrolment Agreement Form, and attest (confirm) which days and hours you will claim as your child’s 20 Hours ECE entitlement.

The 20 Hours ECE attestation may be part of the Enrolment Agreement Form, or a separate form. Your ECE service should give you this to complete shortly before your child turns three (or when you enrol your three, four or five year old). Your ECE service can help you complete the information required. This attestation must be completed before any 20 Hours ECE can be claimed.

Do I need to tell the Ministry of Education that my child is using 20 Hours ECE?

No, you are not required to advise the Ministry of Education or send any forms in. Your ECE service claims 20 Hours ECE funding directly from the Ministry of Education. All you need to do is make sure you are providing your ECE service with the correct information.

Do I need to enrol for a minimum number of days to access 20 Hours ECE?

The Ministry of Education does not have a minimum number of hours per child that must be claimed to access 20 Hours ECE. However, some ECE services have enrolment policies which have minimum hours and days of enrolment.

The Ministry of Education does not get involved in ECE service's enrolment policies. These are at the ECE service's discretion and will be set out in your Enrolment Agreement Form. In saying that, ECE services cannot restrict the hours in which it offers 20 Hours ECE to certain hours or days that it is open. Enrolment policies must apply to all children - not just those using 20 Hours ECE.

How often do I need to sign the 20 Hours ECE attestation?

The 20 Hours ECE attestation needs to be updated and signed by parents every time there is a change to the Enrolment Agreement Form for a child who is receiving 20 Hours ECE.

Who is responsible for keeping 20 Hours ECE attestations accurate?

The ECE service and the parent are both responsible for this. The ECE service is responsible for ensuring parents know what needs to be done. The parent is responsible for completing the attestation, and providing the ECE service with the correct information.

How is 20 Hours ECE funding paid?

20 Hours ECE funding is paid directly to ECE services. 20 Hours ECE payments are aligned with the current funding system. Paying money directly to ECE services rather than to parents means parents don’t need to directly apply for funding, and ensures that the money goes towards providing high quality ECE.

What can I claim as 20 Hours ECE?

You can select any hours during the week to use as 20 Hours ECE, as long as:

• they are hours that your child is enrolled to attend an ECE service, and
• they do not exceed six hours a day and 20 hours a week.

Can I use 20 Hours ECE at more than one ECE service?

Yes. If your child attends more than one eligible ECE service, you may split the hours claimed across both ECE services, as long as:

• no more than 20 hours a week and six hours a day are being claimed, and
• you do not claim the same hours twice.

What will the Government do if parents access more than 20 hours a week?

Parents who are proven to have made a false declaration on attestations may be prosecuted under the Crimes Act 1961. ECE services will not be penalised (and will not have funding removed) if false claims have been made by parents (provided ECE services follow the correct process to ensure attestations are completed, signed, and kept up to date).

What if my child is absent?

ECE services cannot charge fees for the hours claimed as 20 Hours ECE. This applies whether the child attends or not and whether the ECE service is open or not.

ECE services can claim 20 Hours ECE funding for your child for up to three weeks after their first absence. If your child is frequently absent you will need to update your Enrolment Agreement Form and attestation to ensure you can continue to receive 20 Hours ECE for your child.

What do I need to do if I change my child’s ECE hours?

If you change your child’s ECE arrangements with your ECE service, you must update your child’s Enrolment Agreement Form and attestation.

Can I carry 20 Hours ECE hours over if I don’t use them in one week?

No. Your child can access up to six hours a day to a maximum of 20 hours a week of 20 Hours ECE. You cannot carry these hours over to another week.

If the ECE service my child currently goes to closes for the school holidays, can I use 20 Hours ECE at another ECE service, during the school holiday breaks?

Yes. If the ECE service that your child attends closes for school holidays, you can use those 20 Hours ECE hours at another ECE service.

To do this, you must enrol your child and complete a new attestation (or update the child’s existing attestation) at the ECE service that your child will attend during the school holidays to show the hours of 20 Hours ECE.

What is available for children that cannot access 20 Hours ECE?

The Government provides significant support for ECE participation. The main forms of funding are:

• the ECE Funding Subsidy – this is for all children who attend licensed ECE services. This subsidy assists ECE services with cost of providing ECE, so that parents do not have to pay full cost. ECE services receive this funding directly from the Ministry of Education, and
• the Work and Income Childcare Subsidy – this is for families who have incomes below certain limits.

What is the Childcare Subsidy?

Where parents are charged fees for hours outside of 20 Hours ECE and have income below certain limits, they may be eligible for Work and Income’s Childcare Subsidy to help cover their childcare costs. The Childcare Subsidy can be claimed up to 28 days after a child’s fifth birthday. For more information on the Childcare Subsidy, refer to the Working for Families website or call 0800 559 009.

Can I claim the Childcare Subsidy and 20 Hours ECE?

• Childcare Subsidy cannot be paid for the same hours that 20 Hours ECE is claimed
• Every hour of 20 Hours ECE claimed reduces the Childcare Subsidy entitlement by one hour
• Parents eligible for the Childcare Subsidy can choose between the Childcare Subsidy and 20 Hours ECE, and
• Parents can receive a mix of 20 Hours ECE and the Childcare Subsidy if their Childcare Subsidy entitlement is for more hours than the 20 Hours ECE hours.

Example 1

A parent is entitled to 50 hours of Childcare Subsidy and claims 18 hours of 20 Hours ECE. The parent is still entitled to Childcare Subsidy for the remaining 32 hours.

Example 2

A parent previously received nine hours of Childcare Subsidy, but now chooses to claim 12 hours of 20 Hours ECE. The parent now receives 12 hours of 20 Hours ECE, but no Childcare Subsidy hours can be claimed anymore as the nine hours have been replaced by 20 Hours ECE.

More information on the Childcare Subsidy can be found on the Working for Families website or by calling 0800 559 009.

What will happen to my fees for ECE?

ECE services cannot charge fees for the hours of 20 Hours ECE; however they can require you to pay fees for your child’s other hours of enrolment. ECE services may set fees on an hourly, daily, sessional, or weekly basis. The ECE service must be able to show you how it is only charging you fees for the hours outside of 20 Hours ECE.

Can ECE services increase their fees for the other hours, outside of 20 Hours ECE?

Outside 20 Hours ECE, ECE services determine their fee levels. If ECE services’ costs rise, it is reasonable to expect that their fees may rise also, to ensure the ECE service remains sustainable.

What if I think the fees my ECE service is charging are too high?

The first thing you should do is discuss the fees with your ECE service and request an explanation for the fee increase or fee levels. If your concerns are not addressed, you can make a complaint to the ECE service under their complaints policy. If you have concerns about how the ECE service is responding to your complaint, you should then contact your local Ministry of Education office.

What will the Ministry do if ECE services charge fees for 20 Hours ECE?

In the first instance, you should discuss the charges with the ECE service. If these concerns are not addressed, you can make a complaint with the ECE service under their complaints policy. If your concerns are still not resolved then you should contact your local Ministry of Education office.

The Ministry may contact the ECE service to discuss the nature of the complaint. If the complaint is upheld, the Ministry will encourage the ECE service to rethink their fees policy. If the ECE service does not rectify the problem (i.e. by either refunding money to the parents, or by not claiming 20 Hours ECE funding for the period which they charged fees), then:

• the Ministry Resourcing Audit team may become involved and 20 Hours ECE funding may be recovered
• the ECE service may be prevented from claiming 20 Hours ECE funding in future.

Can the Ministry help me if I have problems with my ECE service?

The Ministry responds to parent’s complaints about ECE services. In the first instance, the Ministry checks that parents have discussed their complaint with their ECE service. If the complaint is about breaches of 20 Hours ECE funding rules, the Ministry will discuss the 20 Hours ECE rules with the ECE service to ensure they are being correctly followed.

Where can I find more information about 20 Hours ECE?

More information about 20 Hours ECE can be found in the Parents section of the Ministry of Education website. The Ministry’s ‘20 Hours ECE Information for Parents’ sheet is available to download.

You can also ask for more information from your ECE service as they should be able to explain the rules and may provide you with a copy of the ‘20 Hours ECE Information for Parents’ sheet.

Who can I contact if I have questions about 20 Hours ECE?

General information about 20 Hours ECE can be found in the Parents section of the Ministry of Education website.

If you have further queries and your child is already enrolled in ECE, you should speak to your ECE service.

If your query is about your ECE service, contact your local Ministry of Education office. Contact details are on the Ministry of Education website, or in your local phone book.

If your child is not enrolled in ECE, or your ECE service is unable to answer your questions, you can email 20hours.ece@minedu.govt.nz [no spam], or call 0800 ECE (0800 323 323).