Disability Access Fund

Disability Access Fund

What is the Disability Access Fund (DAF)?

The Disability Access Fund (DAF) is money that childcare providers can use to support children with disabilities or special educational needs.

The aim of the DAF is to help give children who are disabled access to free childcare, by making reasonable adjustments to their settings or helping with building capacity.

All chosen providers will get one payment of £615 per year per eligible child.

Who can get the funding?

Three and four-year-olds can get the Disability Access Fund if they:

  • receive the disability living allowance (DLA)
  • access free early education at the early years provider.

Children do not need to take up all of their 570 early years entitlement hours to get the DAF.

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

How to claim the DAF

Providers will need to find out whether their parents receive DLA funding.

To do so:

  1. Providers should speak to existing parents to find out if they get the funding.

  2. If they do get DLA, providers will need to see and get a copy of the DLA award letter for their records.

  3. Once seen, the provider will need to complete the DAF Application Form and provide relevant information.

How early years providers will receive DAF funding

We will fund all early years settings providing a place for each child eligible for the DAF in their area, at the fixed annual rate of £615 per eligible child.

The DAF will not be offset against any other funding which we may ordinarily provide 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 three and four-year-old's early entitlement education, are also eligible to receive the DAF.

For more information on how early years providers can access this funding, please email earlyyearspupilpremium@lambeth.gov.uk.