Regulation 1 Citation, commencement and interpretation

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Childcare Act 2006 (Childcare Assessments) Regulations 2007 and come into force on 1st April 2007.

(2)

In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Childcare Act 2006;
“authority” means an English local authority^f1;
“child care element”, in relation to working tax credit, is to be read in accordance with section 12 of the Tax Credits Act 2002^f2;
“disabled child” means a child who has a disability for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995^f3;
“early years childminding” has the same meaning as in section 98(1) of the Act^f4;
“free nursery provision” means nursery education—
1. (a)
  
  provided in a maintained school pursuant to the duty imposed on an authority by section 118 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998^f5 (duty of LEA to secure sufficient nursery education), and in accordance with guidance given by the Secretary of State under that section^f6; or
2. (b)
  
  provided free of charge by any other person in consideration of financial assistance provided by an authority under arrangements made with that person by the authority in pursuance of the duty imposed on the authority by section 118 of the 1998 Act;
“later years childminding” has the same meaning as in section 98(1) of the Act^f7;
“nursery education” has the same meaning as in Part 5 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998;
“parent” includes any person who—
1. (a)
  
  has parental responsibility for a child, or
2. (b)
  
  has care of a child;
“session length” means the maximum period of time for which a childcare provider will care for a particular child in a day;
“special educational needs” has the same meaning as in section 312 of the Education Act 1996^f8.

(3)

For the purposes of these Regulations, the age ranges of children are—

(a)

children who have not attained the age of 3;

(b)

children of the age of 3 or 4;

(c)

children of the age of 5, 6 or 7;

(d)

children of the age of 8, 9 or 10;

(e)

children of the age of 11, 12, 13 or, subject to paragraph (4), 14; and

(f)

in relation to disabled children only—

(i)

subject to paragraph (4), children of the age of 14, and

(ii)

children of the age of 15, 16 or 17.

(4)

A child is of the age of 14—

(a)

for the purposes of paragraph (3)(e), up until the 1st September next following the date on which he attains the age of 14; and

(b)

for the purposes of paragraph (3)(f), on and after the 1st September next following the date on which he attains the age of 14.

(5)

For the purposes of these Regulations, the types of childcare are—

(a)

childcare which is early years childminding or later years childminding;

(b)

childcare which is provided during the school term before or after school hours only;

(c)

childcare which is provided during school hours during the school term; and

(d)

childcare which is provided outside the school term.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: See section 106 of the Childcare Act 2006 for the meaning of “English local authority”.
f2: 2002 c.21.
f3: 1995 c.50.
f4: See also section 96(4) of the Childcare Act 2006.
f5: 1998 c.31. Section 118 is amended by paragraph 30 of Schedule 2 to the Childcare Act 2006.
f6: See the Code of Practice on the Provision of Free Nursery Education Places for Three- and Four-Year-Olds, published in February 2006 (ISBN: 1-84478-671-4). Copies can be downloaded from www.surestart.gov.uk or obtained from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottinghamshire, NG15 0DJ.
f7: See also section 96(8) of the Childcare Act 2006.
f8: 1996 c.56. Section 312 was amended by paragraph 23 of Schedule 7 to the Education Act 1997 (c.44); by paragraph 71 of Schedule 30 to the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (c.31); by paragraph 56 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 (c.21) and by paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (c.40).