Core Funding is a grant to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and/or School Age Childcare (SAC) Partner Services towards their operating costs and is funding directly to Partner Services. I am required to ensure all Exchequer funding is managed in a clear and transparent manner. This includes a requirement to ensure robust and transparent Financial Reporting structures are in place.
Therefore, as a condition of receiving the Core Funding grant, Partner Services must provide financial reports to the Department for each year they have engaged with the Scheme. Information is provided directly by a Partner Service and their nominated accountant. The Department does not require Partner Services to provide their Companies Registration Office Annual Financial Statements (AFS) as part of this process.
In March 2026, Partner Services were required to submit Financial Reports for Year 3 (2024/25 programme year) of Core Funding. A full Trial Balance underpinned by sector-specific nominal codes contained in the Core Funding Chart of Accounts was required. The Trial Balance was to be prepared using accruals-based accounting. This differs to Year 1 and Year 2 when the Income and Expenditure template was prepared using cash-based accounting.
The portal for Trial Balance submissions opened on 27 February 2026 with a published deadline for submissions of 31 March 2026 at midnight.
The Department is currently performing a quality assurance exercise of all financial reports submitted to support the accuracy of submitted data. Once complete, these financial reports provide a tangible foundation for the analysis of the cost drivers within the sector, providing evidence-based financial data to support the development of future policy to ensure Core Funding is supporting services.
