South Council

Childcare Voucher Scheme

South Gloucestershire Council will no longer be administering the Childcare Voucher Scheme after 31st March 2015.

For Employees Only

To ensure employees continue to receive this benefit, the council has appointed a new provider ‘Edenred’ to administer the scheme from 1st April 2015. A letter has been sent to all current scheme users to notify them of the changes, if you have not received this letter please contact [email protected]

For employees wishing to join the childcare voucher scheme from 1st April 2015 onwards please contact Edenred via one of the following options and quote South Gloucestershire Council

Telephone the Helpdesk on 0800 247 1233, or email [email protected]

For External Organisation Employees

If you are an employee at one of the following organisations and registered with the South Gloucestershire childcare voucher scheme you should have been notified by your employer directly as to which organisation will be administering a scheme for them from 1st April 2015. If you have not received any information, please contact your employer directly.

Bristol Clinical Commissioning Support Community Health Castle School Circadian Trust (formerly South Gloucestershire Leisure Trust) Cotswold District Council Downend School Fishponds School Merlin Housing Society North Bristol NHS Trust Olympus Academy School South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group Stoke Lodge Primary School The Ridings Federation of Academies

Westbury-on-Trym Academy Westbury Park School West Town Lane Academy

Note to All Scheme Users

For employees on monthly Direct Payments, please note that the last payment South Gloucestershire Council will make on your behalf to your registered provider will be on the first working day in April 2015. This will be in respect of your March 2015 payroll deductions.

For employees receiving monthly paper vouchers, the last set of vouchers that you will receive will be at the end of March 2015.

Vouchers are valid for 18 months from the original date of issue and can still be redeemed for childcare as long as the expiry date on the voucher has not passed.

Please note, vouchers which have expired cannot be redeemed for childcare and cannot be refunded, re-issued or extended.

Help and Support after 31st March 2015

The following e-mail address and telephone numbers will still be in operation, however there will be reduced staffing and we will endeavor to respond to your queries as soon as possible. e-mail – [email protected]

Telephone – 01454 863354 and 01454 863961

Please note that we will only be able to deal with queries relating to the old South Gloucestershire Scheme on the above contacts. Queries relating to deductions made by your organisations new scheme provider should be directed to them.

Questions and Answers

Please find below some questions and answers that you may have

1. I still have unused South Gloucestershire Childcare Vouchers – can I redeem these for childcare?

Vouchers are valid for 18 months from the original date of issue and can still be redeemed for childcare as long as the expiry date on the voucher has not passed.

Please note, vouchers which have expired cannot be redeemed for childcare and cannot be refunded, re-issued or extended.

Page 2 of 5 2. What type of childcare can I use?

You can only use the vouchers to pay for childcare with a registered or approved childcare providers.

What is Registered or Approved Childcare?

To qualify for the Income Tax and NIC’s exemptions the childcare must be provided by one of the following.

. A childcare provider under the Ministry of Defence accreditation scheme abroad.

In only

. A person registered under Part 3 of the Childcare Act 2006. This will include persons on the following registers operated by Ofsted 1) the Early Years Register 2) the general Childcare Register – compulsory part 3) the general Childcare Register – voluntary part.

. Schools – care provided by the governing body of a school is approved if it takes place 1) outside normal school hours (this means the normal hours of compulsory education adopted by the school as appropriate for the age of the child) 2) on school premises, or 3) on premises that are covered by the inspection of the whole school activity by Ofsted or the equivalent inspection body for certain independent schools.

. Other care providers – a domiciliary worker or nurse from an agency registered under the Domiciliary Care Agencies Regulations 2002 providing childcare in the child’s home.

In Wales only

• A childcare provider registered in accordance with Part 2 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010. • Out-of-school-hours childcare, provided by a school on the school premises, or by a local authority. • A person approved under the Approval of Child Care Providers (Wales) Scheme 2007 providing childcare in the child’s home or if several children are being looked after, in the home of one of the children. • A domiciliary worker or nurse from an agency registered under the Domiciliary Care Agencies (Wales) Regulations 2004 providing childcare in the child’s home. • A foster parent in relation to a child other than one whom the foster parent is fostering but only in those cases where, due to the age of the child, the care provided does not fall within the first and third bullet points in this section.

(Source: Inland Revenue IR115 Paying for Childcare)

In all cases you should contact your child carer and ask them if they are prepared to accept vouchers. An information pack to give to your carer is available from the Childcare

Page 3 of 5 Voucher Scheme Team on 01454 863354/3961 (e-mail [email protected]). We also recommend that you ask your provider(s) for proof that they have adequate public liability insurance cover in place.

3. Can I register a new childcare provider after 31st March 2015

Yes, if you need to register a new childcare provider you can still do so – see below the step by step guide for childcare providers

4. What does it cost my childcare provider to register with the South Gloucestershire Childcare Voucher Scheme?

Absolutely nothing. We will cover the cost of the postage for returning our childcare vouchers for all carers who accept our vouchers, so it doesn't cost them a penny.

5. Does my childcare provider still redeem paper vouchers in the same way?

Yes your childcare provider will still be able to redeem paper vouchers in the usual way as long as they have not expired.

6. I have lost some paper vouchers, what should I do?

If the lost paper vouchers have not expired, please contact the Childcare Voucher Scheme and we can arrange for replacement vouchers to be issued.

Please note paper vouchers will only be issued with the original expiry date on them.

For example if you have lost vouchers with an expiry date of 30th June 2015, these will be re-issued with the same expiry date of 30th June 2015 and will not be extended.

7. I am a South Gloucestershire Employee currently on the Childcare Voucher Scheme, but I do not want to continue on the scheme under Edenred from 1st April 2015, what should I do?

Please contact the Childcare Voucher Scheme before 31st March 2015 so that we can remove you from the system before confirming the employee transfer list with Edenred.

8. What happens if there is a change in circumstances in relation to my childcare provider or home address after 31st March 2015 and I still have vouchers to use?

Please advise us in writing, of any changes in relation to your home address and/or childcare provider so that we can ensure are records are kept up to date whilst you still have vouchers to use.

Page 4 of 5 CHILDCARE VOUCHER SCHEME STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR PROVIDERS

You can complete Form CVS5 – Voucher Scheme Membership which will be passed to you by the employee wishing to use South Gloucestershire Councils childcare vouchers. Alternatively you can contact the Childcare Voucher Scheme Team on telephone 01454 863354/3961 or e-mail [email protected] to obtain a Providers pack of information on the childcare voucher scheme.

When you have completed Form CVS5, send this form to South Gloucestershire Council, Chief Executive & Corporate Resources Department, P O Box 300, Childcare Voucher Scheme, Civic Centre, High Street, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, BS15 0DS.

Once we receive your completed Form CVS5 we will check details and subject to meeting the eligibility criteria, register you on the childcare voucher scheme. This includes setting up your bank details with our Payments Dept to be able to make payment to you via BACS (Bank Automated Clearing System).

We will then send you your unique reference number for the Scheme, together with Form CVS6, should you wish to amend any of your details given to us, and Form CVS7, to be completed each time you send childcare vouchers for payment. We will also send you a batch of pre-paid envelopes.

Paper vouchers

Each time you wish to redeem vouchers for payment you will need to complete Form CVS7 – Batch header, and send this form, together with the vouchers you wish to redeem to the Childcare Voucher Scheme Team in the pre-paid envelope provided.

Please note you must only accept vouchers that are still within date (i.e they have not expired) and ensure that they have been signed by the parent who the voucher is made out to.

We will then arrange for payment to be made to the childcare provider.

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