Are you planning to register for Wraparound Childcare (WAC) Overseas funding in January 2025?

                             

What is Wraparound Childcare funding?

The Wraparound Childcare (WAC) scheme provides funding for up to 20 hours per week, per child, during term time, to eligible Service families with children aged 4 to 11 years old (4-16 years old if receiving Government disability allowances) who are in full time education in school or being home educated. Over 7,000 Service children's before and after school childcare is currently being funded by WAC.

If you are assigned to a location within the European Economic Area & Switzerland (EEA&S) or using Defence Children Services (DCS) before and after school childcare provision? WAC Overseas will be available to eligible families in these areas from 6 January 2025.

WAC Overseas mirrors the WAC scheme in the UK, it is a reimbursement from Defence to Service personnel of up to 80% of the costs of before and after school childcare. Capped hourly rates apply and can be found in 2022DIN01-079-Defence Wraparound Childcare Allowance. The remaining 20% is claimed from HMRC via an active Tax-Free Childcare account. WAC funding does not provide childcare spaces, it is funding for costs incurred when eligible families pay for before and after school childcare.

Actions that must be completed before registering for WAC Overseas.

• Make sure each child that funding will be claimed for, have an active Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account (active means that you reconfirm your account with HMRC every 3 months and receive the 20% top up from HMRC when you add money into the TFC account).
• Check children have been recorded and verified on JPA; children are verified on JPA when there is a ‘yes’ in the certificate verified box.

When can families register for WAC Overseas?

• Registration and claims will be available from 6 January 2025, claims can’t be submitted until registration confirmation including the child’s unique WAC Overseas registration number is received.
• An active TFC account must be in place before registration.
• If you registered your child(ren) for WAC UK within JPA and have since been assigned to a location included in WAC Overseas and are accompanied by your family, you will need to register again using the WAC Overseas process.

How do families claim WAC Overseas funding and how much can they claim? 

The Wraparound Childcare DIN explains the registration and claims process. Further information and guidance about how to submit a WAC Overseas claim will be available on the Defence Childcare Information Page on DefNet and Defence Connect in the week commencing 6 January.

Families assigned outside of the areas covered by WAC Overseas funding.

The overseas picture is complex, where one solution will not fit all. As such, not all overseas locations are able to mirror the WAC scheme eligibility criteria. Further work will take place to explore other options for how we can support primary school aged childcare in other overseas locations.

We will keep you updated as this work progresses.

Need more information? 

Further information will be added to the Defence Childcare Information Page on DefNet and Defence Connect in January, including FAQs and Step-by-Step Guides for registering and claiming WAC Overseas. Keep an eye out for details of family Q&A sessions with the WAC team which will be shared in due course.

If you have any questions, contact the WAC team at PEOPLE-AFFS-WAC-FRO-mailbox@mod.gov.uk