Supporting Families using Tax Free Childcare for Pre-School Children
On 23rd May, the Minister for Education announced a suite of Early Learning and Childcare Measures for implementation in 2024/25.
The Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme (NICSS) is a Department of Education initiative designed to reduce the childcare costs of eligible working parents by 15% for all qualifying children. The overarching aim of this scheme is to help working parents with the affordability of childcare costs.
The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed that the subsidy scheme will target working parents who are eligible for Tax Free Childcare (TFC) and have children who have not yet started primary school. Starting from 1st September 2024, any parent receiving TFC, for a child who has not yet enrolled in primary school will be eligible to participate in the scheme, provided their childcare provider is signed up with HMRC as a TFC provider.
Early Years - the organisation for young children, has been appointed to administer the scheme on behalf of the Department of Education.
This scheme is still under development and we hope to formally launch at the end of August. Please check back regularly for any further updates.
