Online Headcount Guidance Document

Introduction

The Early Years Provider Portal has been introduced to make the submission of information to Hampshire County Council more secure and efficient which will be imported directly into our central system.

This document contains user guidance to help you access the Provider Portal and submit your Headcount Form Funding claims for 2, 3 & 4 Year Old

Children.

Please read this document before starting your headcount submission, as this will help you understand the process of logging into the Provider Portal and updating your records.

If you have any issues accessing the Provider Portal please contact your local SfYC office for assistance.

Please can you ensure that you log off from the Provider Portal when you are no longer using the system.

Contents

1.0 Headcount – things to consider

2.0 Logging in to the Provider Portal

3.0 Security Questions for first time users

3.1 Set Security Questions

4. Provider Headcount Records

4.1 Child Level Records

5. Editing existing child level funding

5.1 Child Details Tab

5.2 Funding details

5.3 Notes Tab (Shared care)

5.4 Validation Errors

5.5 Status changed to Edit Pending

6. Deleting Records where a child is no longer receiving funding at your setting

7. Adding New Children

7.1 New Child – Child Details Tab

7.2 New Child – Funding Details Tab

7.3 New Child – Notes Tab

7.4 New Child – Validation Errors

7.5 New Child – Add Pending Status

7.6 New Child – Added by Mistake

7.7 Stretched Offer Child

8.0 Sending the Claim

8.1 What happens after the claim has been sent

9.0 Further Help

1.0 Headcount – things to consider

•Read the Headcount letter emailed to you prior to your data submission.

•Parent declaration forms to be completed as normal, but retained by the setting for audit purposes.

•EYPP eligibility forms submitted for checking where possible the term before the child’s 3rd or 4th birthday.

•Week before headcount day the balance of hours for each previously claimed child will be emailed to the business email address.

•Additional data collection, such as census (Jan) will be notified and or other collections may be requested to be completed before payment is made.

•Submitting a headcount claim means you are accepting the Hampshire’s Early Years Education Funding Payment Terms and Conditions:

2.0Logging in to the Provider Portal

The Provider Portal can be accessed via the following link:

You will then see the following screen: -

Enter your User Name and Password (Usernames and passwords are case sensitive)

And click on

The following screen will appear

Click on the Fundingtab at the top left of the page :

3.0 Security Questions for first time users

You will be prompted to enter an answer to one of three possible security questions.

Enter the default answer of Fiso and click

3.1 Set Security Questions

Once you have entered the default answer you will be prompted to set your own answers to the security questions. You must enter answers for all 3 questions.

To set your own answer click on a security question, enter the “Old Answer” as the ‘default’ answer and enter your specific answer to both the “New Answer” and Confirm New Answer and click on

Once you have successfully changed the answer to the question you will receive a message on the screen to confirm and the asterisk will disappear.

Repeat this exercise for the remaining two questions.

Now click on the ‘Funding Tab’.

For future logins you will only be asked for the answer to one of the security questions.

4. Provider Headcount Records

Once you have clicked on the Funding tab and entered your security question you will be presented with the following screen. By clicking on the View you will be able to see details of your previous funding period claims.

To enter online claims click on the Actuals link(below the Funding text)

Actuals will now be viewed as Orange text. Open will indicate the current headcount period – if you do not have funded 2 year old children then please ignore that funding type.

The actuals data is submitted separately for 2 Year and 3 / 4 Year olds.

Select the appropriate row for the funding year, term and type then click

4.1 Child Level Records

You will see all children that have been carried forward from the previous term displayed with a status of unchanged. You are required toupdate all children

If the Child is continuing to receive funding at your setting you will need to click ‘Edit’ and proceed to step 5.

If the child is no longer funded for this term click ‘Request Delete’ and proceed to step 6.

5.Editing existing child level funding

5.1 Child Details Tab

After clicking Edit on an individual child click on the Child Details tab. The details of the child, as known from the last claim, will be pre-populated, but this can be changed if necessary.

Enter the number of days If the child is on the stretched

per week a child attends in the offer then enter SSS in the middle

Preferred Surname box. name box otherwise it must be left blank.

Ethnicity should be completed with information given by parents on the declaration form. Please ensure you submit an appropriate code.

The SEN field does not offer the full description of SEN options so please complete as accuratly as possible, or leave blank if the correct option is not on the list. Settings who receive SEN funding for a child will continue to receive the money but it will be paid separately.

Check information regarding the child and amend where necessary.

Click on the Funding Details tab

5.2 Funding details(Please see section 7.7 if you want to enter Children receiving the Stretched offer)

Present during Census should be ticked for all Children.

Term Start and End Dates will automatically be populated for the current term and should not be altered. The only exception to this is if you are aware that a child is leaving your setting, you can amend the end date.

Weeks attended in term may not be an exact number as this will be dependant on the hours attended across the term. This is where you must enter your calculation.

  • An example of how to calculate weeks attended per term is as follows:Standard Claim example :
  • Number of funded hours per child per funding period i.e.160 hours
  • Divided by the number of funded hours per week i.e. 15
  • 160 / 15 = 10.66667 weeks
  • Therefore 10.6667 would be entered in the “weeks attended in term”

It is also important that you enter the number of non funded hours a child is with you. If a child attends the setting for 25 hours per week and 15 are funded the number of non funded hours is 10 and should be entered in the non funded hours per week box.

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PARENT / CARER DETAILS Tab – please do not enter any information into this tab

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5.3 Notes Tab (Shared care and 2 year old eligibility reference)

Use the notes tab to record:

2 year old funded authorisation/eligibility reference

Any shared care

Example of how this might look is:

ZX45GF

SC Little Children SO23 9TB

Click ‘Save’ when complete. This will save all the child details and return you to the previous screen.

5.4 Validation Errors

ANY ERRORS will present themselves with RED Text at the bottom of the screen and these must be corrected before the record can be saved. eg. There is validation around the DOB to ensure it falls within the correct range for the year of claim. Any mandatory fields will be denoted with an asterisk.

5.5 Status changed to Edit Pending

Once a record has been updated correctly it will display a status of Edit Pending. All records must be actioned and none must be left with status Unchanged.

6.Deleting Records where a child is no longer receiving funding at your setting

Click on Request Delete from the Child list view and you will then be prompted to confirm that you wish the record to be deleted, at this point you will need to click ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

Once you have confirmed the request to delete the list view will display ‘Delete Pending, Submitted’

At this point you can still cancel the Delete request by clicking on Cancel Delete.

7. Adding New Children

To add a new child click on the ‘Add Child’ button

7.1 New Child – Child Details Tab

Enter the Childs Details. An asterisk denotes the fields which are mandatory.

The child DOB can be entered by clicking on the Calendar or by typing the date into the field.

7.2 New Child – Funding Details Tab

(Please see section 7.7 if a child is receiving the Stretched offer)

The term start dates and end dates will be pre-populated.

Weeks attended in term may not be an exact number as this will be dependant on the hours attended across the term (see section 5.2)

Check and complete the remaining fields and click save when complete.

7.3 New Child – Notes Tab

Enter any relevant Notes (see section 5.3) and click Save.

7.4New Child – Validation Errors

ANY ERRORS will present themselves with RED Text at the bottom of the screen and these must be corrected before the record can be saved. eg. There is validation around the DOB to ensure it falls within the correct range for the year of claim. Any mandatory fields will be denoted with an asterisk.

7.5 New Child – Add Pending Status

The children that have been added will now display with the status as ‘Add pending’. Repeat steps 6.0 to 6.3 to add any additional children.

7.6 New Child – Added by Mistake

If you have added a child by mistake, you can click on Delete displayed in the first Column and then you will be prompted to confirm that you wish to remove this record.

If you click ‘Yes’ the child will be removed from the list.

7.7 Stretched Offer Child

Please enter Stretched Children once all other children have been entered.

The process for entering the details of those children on the stretched offer is the same as all other children apart from ensure that ‘SSS’ has been entered on the Middle Name field on the Child Details Tab.

You should ensure “SSS” is entered for all children that attend for EYE more than 38 weeks.

Although the system should allow you to enter details for stretched children please contact Services for Young Children on 01962847070 or email you are unable to do so.

8.0 Sending the Claim

You are able to login and out of the portal as many times as needed to ensure your data is correct within the claim period before submitting.

For example, if you realise that you have made a mistake or circumstances for a child have changed you can simply re-edit the relevant child records.

Only press Send Claim when all data has been updated/added and only on or after headcount day. Once you have finished making changes to all of the records you are ready to submit the Claim by clicking on the ‘Send Claim button’.

Once you submit your claim it cannot be changed, but remember, for Spring 2016 you have up until Friday 29 Januaryto submit your claim (this is 8 days after headcount day including weekends)

If no issues are found you will then receive confirmation via a Green tick Banner with a message ‘Submission successful’records will be updated to Status ‘Submitted’.

Please note: It will not be possible to submit an online claim after Headcount submission deadline has passed.

8.1 What happens after the claim has been sent

•Data checks are carried out and we will contact you if we need clarification

•Overclaims will be automatically amended and we will email you notification of the changes

•When the data has been processed you will be able to view your claim through the portal. The date shown is the date that SfYC have passed the claim to finance and NOT the date of payment.

•Late claims will continue to be processed via paper forms

Things to remember

Please contact your local SfYC office with queries on usernames, passwords and submission issues.

Please ensure that you:

  • Do not submit any online claims before21 January 2016 as they will beremoved andnot processed
  • prepare your claim when the portal is open between 18January 2016 and29t January 2016
  • Only submit claims that represent full hours, half hours or quarter hours. Claims received with part hours shown as anything other than “.75”, “.5” or “.25” will be treated as an error and may delay your payment
  • Remember that the minimum claim for EYE funding is 2.5 hours per day. This is particularly relevant if you are claiming for a child with split EYE hours across more than one setting (shared care)
  • Only press‘Save’ when you amend the child details to prepare your claim.
  • Only press the ‘Send Claim’ button once after you have finished adding or amending ALL child details
  • An authorised person must submit your online claim, they are accepting the 1 January 2015 Early Years Education funding payment terms and conditions
  • Take a screen print of the data you are submitting as evidence of your claim
  • If this is your first online claim do not send in a paper claim as well as submitting an online claim

9.0 Further Help

If you need any support with the Provider Portal please contact your local SfYC office.

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PROVIDER PORTAL HF000005335624