Staff Funding Additional Contribution Department of Children, Disability and Equality Notice

Dear Service Provider,

Please see the below communication from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality below:

“As you are aware, New Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) applicable to the Early Years Services Sector, came into effect on 13 October 2025.

As a result of the Employment Regulation Orders becoming effective, the Department has introduced a new element of Core Funding to support Partner Services to meet the costs of increasing rates of pay. This new Core Funding element is called the Staff Funding Additional Contribution (SFAC).

This notice applies to Partner Services who have not activated the Staff Funding Additional Contribution by way of completing an Application Change or November Review and Confirm with Changes

There were notices issued in October and November to remind Partner Services of the required changes to enable the SFAC. These communications related to an Application Change. However, as the November Review and Confirm period has opened, Partner Services were then asked to complete a Review and Confirm with Changes to enable the SFAC, this was outlined in previous Review and Confirm communications. Due to a large number of services who did not complete the required application change between the 13 and 19 October, the Department is allowing Partner Services the opportunity to receive the maximum number of allocation weeks available to those who were eligible but did not submit the changes in time. To do this, all Core Funding Partner Services who are eligible for the SFAC but did not complete the required changes in time, must complete one of the two actions below by the 30 November.

Action required for the below services:

1) Partner Services who did not submit an application change by the 31 October and have yet to complete the November Review and Confirm, must submit a Review and Confirm with changes by the 30 November.

2) Partner Services who did not submit an application change by the 31 October and have completed the November Review and Confirm with no changes, must submit an application change by the 30 November.

No action required for the below services:

Partner Services who submitted their Application Change between the 13-19 October.

Partner Services who submitted their Application Change between the 20-31 October.

Partner Services who have already submitted a November Review and Confirm with changes.

Ineligible:

To note, to be eligible for the above, all services must have been a Core Funding Partner Service by the 19 October. Any services who activated their Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement after this date will only be eligible for allocations from the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement accepted on date. Therefore, there is no action for these services.

Please note: Completing the Review and Confirm with Changes during this window will allow Partner Services to receive the maximum number of allocation weeks available for the programme year. If the changes are submitted after the 30 November, eligible Partner Services will receive a reduced number of allocation weeks for the Staff Funding Additional Contribution. Information on payments for services who were eligible to receive the full allocation of the SFAC due to completing the required actions will follow in due course.

If your service requires support, additional resources are available under the Core Funding Documents and Help and Support sections on the Early Years Hive.