Student Finance Childcare Grant

harveyandoscar_2

This was a feed I posted to my timeline earlier this evening, please feel free to read and share.

For those of you who know us more than just FB friends, Larissa will be going to University in September, this being after 2 years of waiting due to pregnancies, finances etc. 2013 was the year!

Having been accepted on to her course and all the student finance loans etc applied for and approved, we recently awaited the final confirmation of the Student Finance Childcare grant, which similar to the Childcare Element of Working Tax Credits pay up to a percentage of childcare (up to 85%, HMRC pays up to 75%).

Fantastic! As many working parents out there, you know full well how hard it is to both work and look after a child, and the childcare element of working tax credits is a great save in terms of finance and stress.

As we awaited word from Student Finance, Larissa’s start date came closer and so she became a little impatient and decided to call their centre to chase the application.

I had Larissa on the phone while on my lunch break, obviously upset and having been crying at the news she was given. Due to our household income (my income … Larissa is currently coming to the end of her maternity leave; the last 3 months of which is unpaid), we do not fit within the given criteria that permit us to receive the childcare grant element of student finance. Say that again please!?!?

The information Larissa gave me wasn’t fully clear, obviously upset it was all a little fuzzy. I called Student Finance that evening and spoke to a nice chap (John I think). He looked at the ‘notes’ from Larissa’s previous calls (she rang twice having hung up on the first obnoxious twirp – I’m trying to leave out any expletives!!).

Now before I go into our chat, I should explain what we know of the Student Finance Childcare Grant. From previous years, having friends who have attended University and required childcare, we understood that our incomings and outgoings are taken in to account to determine the amount required to help toward our costs of child care. It isn’t cheap these days as I’m sure many of you know (for Harvey and Oscar, ours will be roughly £350 each week!). Lovely, knowing our incomings and outgoings (rent, bills, food etc) we knew that there would be an entitlement…sorry, assumed.

Back to my chat with John; A great chap, very nice manner…better than these BT, Sky call centre types! Anyway, he looked in to Larissa’s account and he did confirm that we are over the threshold of how much a household of 4 (2 adults and 2 dependants – ie kids) can earn to be entitled to the Childcare Grant.

I asked what this was, the threshold. Here’s the fun part. New for this year, so new in fact that John and his colleagues have near to no knowledge of this (there was a lot of hold music being played), the government have introduced a new ‘fairer’ guide as to the Childcare Grant.

As a family of 4 we are allowed a disregard amount of £9627.00; this disregard amount is what is considered what we as a family of 4 require to live on. We’ll come back to this figure soon, I know that you’re already working this out.

This disregard figure is then deducted from your household income. I’m not rooting out the p60 for 2012 but it was in the region of £23,000. So deducting the disregard figure from this I have roughly £13,000 left over. Fantastic; trip to Disney World Florida is sorted! So due to this figure, it is seen that our household is way over the threshold which the government has put in place in this new scheme.

So problem one, we’ll start with that disregard figure. £9627.00; An amount that covers our outgoings. I can tell you know that our rent is close to £8,000 per year … that kitty just shrank considerably. Four mouths to feed, I’m sure you can work this out. So we hit the – before we get on to bills, car, heating, electricity etc. £9627.00; Hello my friend, please do tell who plucked your little figure out of the air and from where you came from exactly?!?

Problem number two. £13,000; well we know straight away that there is no way I have this amount of cash swimming around in my bank account.
Problem number three; For the beginning part of Larissa’s University career, our childcare costs will be roughly £350 per week, that’s two children for 5 days a week. So if we use this as an example for the next year of Larissa’s university career this will total £18,200. Oooops, something has gone wrong here….Massively!

When speaking to John it was quite obvious that he (and his colleagues) were also dumbfounded by this. He was helpful but unfortunately not helpful enough in solving our problem. A very big problem.

Of course during our conversation I asked when this new change had been announced. We were totally unaware of this change as there was no mention at Larissa’s application stage. I thought maybe I had missed it on the news, I’ve been working a lot recently. But having searched the web I could find no mention of this change, not even Martin Lewis knew of this and I hear he is usually !!!! hot on this stuff. There is no mention in the Student Finance Childcare Grant Booklet for 2013 /14.

What was to be the plan now? Wait, we do still currently receive the childcare element of working tax credit and so will continue to do so then for while Larissa is at university. Although they don’t contribute as much, problem solved. Ah but wait, in their eyes Larissa is seen as unemployed when a full time student and so able to care for her children … NO childcare tax credits.

Oh brick wall how I do love to face you … again!

I’m not after ‘free’ money for the sake of it. I admit I am on a decent wage but by god I work my !!!! off for it, all to provide a great childhood for my kids and to give us a life we want. I only ask that like many people in our position, working hard and raising a family, we receive the helping hand that is offered. Again this isn’t about free money, but instead providing a better life for us as a family, whether through good childcare and working hard toward a better career whilst being a parent.

To be honest, it’s just a huge balls up really. I hate to think how many others are out there in our same position. Had it been last year that Larissa had gone to University then this rant wouldn’t have extended to three pages long on Word (God knows how this looks in my FB feed).

I’m just about to go and break up with Larissa; at least then she may fit in with the new guidelines. I jest of course, and of course I don’t want to sound offensive to single parents out there who are looking at going to University and will thankfully get the help they need with childcare.

This is our fault I’m sure. My rant will be nothing more than that perhaps;

Unless … share the word friends, has this affected you, a friend or family. I’m not going to leave this as just a rant on FB!