5.1 Provision must be offered within the national parameters on flexibility as set out in Section A2 of the Early Education and Childcare Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities.
5.2 The provider should offer flexible funded sessions to parents/carers of children attending their provision that are in line with the term dates published by Derbyshire County Council. Providers should check with their local Derbyshire school for any variations.
5.3 The provider should work with the local authority and share information about the times and periods at which they are able to offer the early years' entitlements to support the local authority to secure sufficient flexible places to meet parental demand in the local authority area. Where funded only places are limited, the local authority should be notified of this and the criteria for the allocation of places, which should be fair and transparent.
5.4 The provider must make information about their offer and admissions criteria available to parents/carers before the child is offered a place.
5.5 Should a provider decide to only offer the weekly funded entitlement, the local authority will not insist a provider delivers the working family funded entitlement to meet parental demand. Parents/carers may choose to use more than one early year's provider to access their full early years' entitlements, and choose how the hours are split between these providers.
5.6 The provider cannot compress the early years' entitlement hours. Parents/carers cannot take more than 15 or 30 hours per week over fewer than 38 weeks of the year. However, parents/carers can choose an early years' provider that is open for fewer than 38 weeks of the year and receive the 15 or 30 hours a week during fewer weeks.
5.7 The provider should not bank or roll-over unused hours or carry forward to the following term (other than delivering stretched funded hours over an academic year) as this can lead to an over claim if the parent leaves the setting or chooses not to access the hours.
5.8 The provider should deliver flexible packages of funded hours, with no artificial breaks, for example over the lunch period.
5.9 The provider should, as far as is practicable, take account of the average working day and deliver the funded hours to best meet the needs of working parents/carers.
5.10 Where the provider offers additional fee paid hours, these should be offered either side of a child's funded sessions.
5.11 The provider must not make the purchase of additional fee paid hours a condition of accessing a fully funded place of up to 15 or 30 hours per week.