Childcare additional needs grant

Children's Services award grants to organisations that support young people. These could be specialist counselling services, supporting young carers, young people who are not in education, employment or training, services for traveller children and young people or support services for children and young people affected by domestic abuse.

Please note date for all 2025-26 requests is 28 February 2026.

Who should this grant support

To support the inclusion of children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who attend wraparound childcare in registered pre-schools, childminders, breakfast and after-school clubs (within the private, voluntary and non-maintained sector) and schools who deliver wraparound services.

How much can I apply for?

100% of agreed revenue grant will be paid within thirty working days of the receipt of the signed grant agreement.

The maximum amount payable in a financial year is £3000.

The maximum length of grant payable will be for one academic term.

When to apply

The grant round is open from 1 April 2025 to 28 February 2026. Grants are available to fund individual support that will be provided up until 28 February 2026.

Who can apply?

Any registered provider who provides wraparound childcare.

The Childcare Register has 2 parts:

  • Compulsory – for providers caring for children from 1 September after the child’s fifth birthday up until their eighth birthday
  • Voluntary – join this if you are looking after children aged 8 and over, or if you are choosing to register voluntarily (for example, if you’re a nanny)

EY Register - You should join this register if you’re caring for children aged from birth to 31 August after their fifth birthday. This includes children in Year R.

Grant criteria and eligibility

All applications must:

  • be registered on appropriate childcare / EY register as stated above
  • provide evidence of the need for funding including an explanation of why the setting cannot meet the cost from their own funds
  • provide information on costs and how funding will be spent by completing a CAN Grant application form
  • agree to the conditions of the grant listed below
  • agree to the additional specific conditions of grant as identified on the CAN Grant application form
  • for non-school led provision, have a published Local Offer on the Family Information Services Hub

Organisations must:

What is funded
  • funding for specific resources
  • short term funding for additional staff to enable the setting to be fully inclusive - where all other support strategies have been tried/explored.
What isn't funded?
  • funding for children from the Reception Year of School (Year R) upwards to access provision during the normal school working day
  • to support a child for whom your setting is in receipt of SEN Inclusion Funding. This is because this provision is already funded by the County Council from other sources
  • funding for a child accessing a setting outside of the Hampshire local authority area
  • funding for holiday provision to support a child that meets the short breaks criteria
  • funding to support a child in a maintained setting. This is because this provision is already funded by the County Council from other sources.
Approval process

We aim to support as many settings as possible, provided we are satisfied that the applications for funding meet the criteria and the funds are available. All applications will be evaluated by a panel and applicants notified of the decisions usually within three weeks of receipt.

Decisions made will fall into two categories:

  • applications approved
  • applications declined

Appeals process

Applicants wishing to appeal against the panel’s decision should complete this form: Services for Young Children General Enquiry Form detailing the reasons for the appeal. The appeal will then be considered by the Services for Young Children (SfYC) SEN IF and CAN Grant Panel.

Contact us
Read application notes and apply