Early Years Funding Officer

Job Introduction

Role Purpose

Working closely with early years providers of childcare, schools and colleagues within BCP Council, the Early Years Funding Officer will support the operation of Early Years Entitlements ensuring local arrangements comply with regulations and assessing and monitoring the eligibility of families to access funded childcare places to meet the needs of the children and families we serve.  

Main Responsibilities  

• Administration of the Early Education Funding in accordance with the requirements as issued by the Department of Education. 
• Liaise with Early Years funding providers, members of the public and officers of the Council in the provision of advice and information relating to the operation of Early Education Funding. 
• Review and revise the documentation relating to the Early Years Entitlements. 
• Liaise with the BCP Family Information Service to keep up-to-date providers records and to ensure that appropriate, clear information and support is available to parents/carers regarding the Early Years Entitlements to enable staff to respond to parents’ queries and increase the further take up of the Early Years funded places. 
• Liaise with the BCP Family Information Service to ensure the effective brokerage of childcare places. 
• Keep abreast of regulations and the Government requirements in relation to the Early Years Entitlements. 
• Manage, maintain and regularly review computer databases and statistical data as required, ensuring reports are provided in a timely manner. 
• Manage the completion of the information provided as part of the Early Years Census. 
• Deal with day to day enquires from members of the public, the Council officers by telephone, email or in person, to provide excellent customer service and satisfaction. 
• Monitor online and paper systems and processes related to the Early Years Entitlements, oversee the work of any business support staff in this area and report any concerns to manager in a timely manner to avoid the disruption of payments to providers.  
• Process accurate financial payments within published agreed deadlines, to Early Years Providers in relation to the Early Years Entitlements, adhering to the agreed Single Funding Formula.  
• To assess eligibility of families to access various funding streams including for disadvantaged 2 Year Olds, Early Years Pupil Premium, 30 hours funded childcare, Disability Funding Allowance and any new schemes introduced by government. 
• Adhere to financial regulations ensuring that all payments are in made in accordance with the BCP Council policies, monitoring spending throughout the year, in relationship to intended expenditure. 
• Ensure that Childcare Providers have a clear understanding of all Early Years Entitlements funding requirements through various methods including dissemination of written information, delivery of workshops and attendance at appropriate meetings and briefings to ensure effective communication is prioritised and statutory guidelines are adhered to. 
• Respond to and solve a range of complex issues and enquiries from providers and parents in relation to the Early Years Entitlements funding compliance and funding claims, ensuring that appropriate investigations are carried out and confidentiality maintained at all times. 
• Liaise with internal auditors to ensure they have appropriate information to carry out audit visits to providers and follow up on any issues raised through the audit process.  
• Monitor attendance patterns of children accessing their Early Years Entitlements and report attendance issues relating to specific children or childcare settings to the Early Education Funding Manager in a timely manner to ensure that children are safeguarded. 
• Produce information and reports to officers of the Council in relation to the Early Education Funding as requested. 
• Ensure that all procedures and practices are written and developed in accordance with best practice to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. 
• Ensure that all procedures and practices are developed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), information sharing procedures, Freedom of Information Act etc. 
• Undertake such other duties as may be required from time to time commensurate with the level of the post. 
• To comply with all decisions, policies and standing orders of the Council and any relevant statutory requirements, including Equal Opportunities legislation, the Health & Safety at Work Act and Data Protection Act. 

The Ideal Candidate

• 3 A Levels, NVQ in Business Administration (or equivalent experience) 
• Knowledge of the Council’s constitution, processes and procedures 
• Understanding of early years education and childcare funding mechanisms. 
• Proficient in using IT systems and software, including Microsoft Office; Excel, Word, Outlook and other relevant programs. 
• Able to deal with confidential and highly sensitive issues 
• Experience in administration, finance, or a similar role involving data management and reporting 
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail in record-keeping and reporting 
• Ability to manage workloads effectively and meet deadlines 
• Capable of managing multiple tasks, deadlines and priorities effectively  
• Flexible in responding to changing regulations, policies and priorities 
• Use effective interpersonal skills to develop solutions to a range of problems 
• Seek to resolve any barriers to collaborating with others by communicating openly and challenging unhelpful behaviour 
• Appreciate diversity in both customers and colleagues and consider their specific needs 
• Team player, with the ability to collaborate and support others, as well as work independently and take initiative 
• Committed to learning and developments 
• Must be able to travel, using public or other forms of transport where they are viable, or by holding a valid UK driving licence with access to own or pool car.

This role requires an enhanced DBS check.
 
This role is based at BCP Civic Centre, Bournemouth with the option for some home working in accordance with business requirements.  

If you are interested in this role and have some questions please do not hesitate to contact Iwona Onik, Early Years Funding Manager, Iwona.onik@bcpcouncil.gov.uk. Interviews will be held on 28, 29 or 30 April 2025.  

About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people.  Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline.  We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services.  By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package for further details see here

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We have been in a process of collective bargaining since 2019 and have positively worked forward to reach an agreed position with the unions for the new contractual offer. This has taken longer than we hoped and therefore we are having to consider all alternative avenues available to enable us to remove inequality in the organisation as a result of bringing together 3 councils. 

We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation, and all colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. We want to reassure everyone that whichever route is taken to reach the new terms and conditions, we can honour continuous service and there will not be any job reduction as a result of the implementation of Pay and Reward.  If you have any questions at all about this process, please feel free to raise this with the hiring manager.

DBS

BCP Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the community and expects all staff and volunteers to share the same commitment. Applicants to this post will be required to complete the appropriate level of Disclosure & Barring Service Check. Please refer to the Job Description or Role Profile for more details.