Inclusive early years fund: 2026 to 2027
Additional funding for local authorities delivering the government’s free early years entitlements programme.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance is for local authorities delivering the government’s free early years entitlements programme.
The additional funding will be paid to local authorities in 2026 toin the 2026 to 2027 financial year to support the early years sector to become more inclusive of children with special educational needs and disabilitiesdisabilities. Local (SEND). Local authorities will pay this to early years providers in accordance with the conditions of grant.
Allocations
Allocations have now been published and payments will be publishedmade aheadat ofthe paymentsend inof July 2026. Further information on allocations is provided in the conditionsgrant of grant.methodology.
Updates to this page
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Added 'Inclusive early years fund for 2026 to 2027: allocations'. Removed 'Local authority inclusive early years funding calculator tool'.
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Added 'Inclusive early years fund: best practice guidance for local authorities'.
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First published.
Update history
2026-07-22 10:38
Added ‘Inclusive early years fund for 2026 to 2027: allocations’. Removed ‘Local authority inclusive early years funding calculator tool’.
2026-06-25 09:30
Added ‘Inclusive early years fund: best practice guidance for local authorities’.
2026-03-25 10:09
First published.