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Luton Borough Council

Wraparound childcare programme

Image showing 2 children in school uniform running through a park and laughing happily, followed by a man and a woman, assumed to be their parents. Also displays the Department of Education logo and the words 'before and after school childcare - everything you need to know about wraparound care'.  

We've been awarded funding as part of the government’s £289 million start-up funding for the wraparound childcare programme.

The aim of the programme is that, by 2026, all parents and carers of primary aged children have access to regular term-time childcare services:

  • between 8am and 6pm
  • Monday to Friday
  • either on a school site or at another local setting
  • with parents not needing to pick their children up from school and drop them off at another location 

The funding supports local authorities to work with:

  • primary schools
  • private, voluntary, and independent providers
  • childminders
  • early year settings

Wraparound childcare is paid provision offering a range of activities and food for children from 8am prior to the school day and from the end of the school day to 6pm.

We're committed to working with schools and providers to ensure there's sufficient provision of wraparound childcare for children across the town where there is enough demand.

We've carried out a mapping exercise with all primary schools in Luton ahead of the programme to identify demand across the town. From this exercise it was identified where there was demand and where additional places could be made available from September 2024.

The places were made available by one of the following methods:

  • increasing the number of places at a provision already offering childcare hours between 8am and 6pm
  • expanding provisions where there was only a breakfast club or after school provision
  • expanding hours of an existing provision eg where they were offering 8am to 4.30pm to the full wraparound hours
  • creating new provisions

The childcare is aimed at working parents, or for parents who are studying or training for employment, but is accessible to all parents who need it. The places available are not free to parents as the programme aims to increase the availability of affordable, quality childcare rather than subsidising it.

Tax-free childcare or Universal Credit childcare support can be used to help pay for wraparound childcare.

A dedicated project officer has been appointed to administer the Luton programme. If you have any questions about the programme, contact them by email: [email protected].

Parents and carers

Information on schools providing wraparound care and how to access financial support.

Information for parents and carers

Schools and providers

Information about programme funding, delivery, expectations, requirements and roles.

Information for schools and providers
© 2024 Luton Council, Town Hall, Luton LU1 2BQ