Inter-authority funding

The West Partnership has designed a cross-boundary funding protocol to support the implementation of the Funding Follows the Child.

As well as the 8 local authorities that make up the West Partnership (Glasgow City, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire, East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire), neighbouring local authorities in Argyle and Bute and East, North and South Ayrshire Councils also operate in line with the protocol, however access and processes may differ in these authorities.

This means that, where physical and financial capacity allows, these local authorities will work together to support families to access up to 1140 funded hours in a different local authority area from the one the family live in.

Application procedure and timeline

• children attending a funded provider working in partnership with any of the local authorities listed above are to make a request to the council where they live for cross-boundary funding
• all requests made before the application deadline of the host authority are considered at a meeting in May each year
• late applications will be considered from the first Monday following receipt of the application by the host authority or effective funding date if later
• funding start dates will be determined by the child’s home authority and may not match those of the host authority’s children
• once a decision is made, families will be notified

Key of terms

• resident authority: authority parent/carer and child live in
• host authority: authority in which your child attends/is seeking to attend a funded provider setting
• all funded providers: private, voluntary, third sector and childminders in contract with the host authority to provide funded Early learning and childcare