About SENIF

Special Education Needs Inclusion Funding is Essex County Council's approach to top up funding that helps providers to meet their responsibilities to early years children with SEND.

Early years and childcare providers must not discriminate against disabled children or treat them less favourably.

SENIF can support inclusivity by being used as a contribution towards:

• providing full support to the child
• facilitating the child's inclusion
• enabling participation in activities
• acquiring resources specific to the child to support their learning and development
• covering costs for staff attendance at meetings with parents and professionals

SENIF is usually calculated:

• as a per hour rate
• based on the number of FEEE hours a child attends

A child's access to their FEEE must not be dependent on whether they receive SENIF funding.

For a full explanation of all SEND top-up funding arrangements for children with SEND in early years settings in Essex, download the SEN Funding Early Years Operational Guidance (PDF, 623KB)

Eligibility

• children who receive the following FEEE funding are eligible for consideration:
  • FEEE1W (working families)
  • FEEE2W (working families)
  • FEEE2
  • FEEE3/4 universal and extended
  • children who are not in receipt of FEEE but who meet the criteria for medium or high banding may be considered for the hours attended at an Ofsted or ISI registered setting
• all settings must be in the administrative area of Essex County Council
• settings outside the administrative area of ECC should approach the council that administers their FEEE payment. Visit the early years entitlements local authority funding operational guide 2024 to 2025 for more information
  
  • as with other elements of early years funding, SENIF should apply to children attending settings in the relevant local authority area, regardless of where they live
• evidence through a one plan or SEND support plan is required to demonstrate that the child needs additional support to access the full early years curriculum
• funding can only be allocated once a child is in attendance, while panel understands the pressure that providers face, excluding a child until funding is in place is not supported by the panel
• a one plan can be started in anticipation of the child attending the setting, developed as the child attends and settles, and then submitted for consideration of SENIF funding

Funding levels

The funding level is determined based on the one plan or SEND support plan submitted:

• funding is typically paid for the FEEE hours that a child attends
• in exceptional cases, non FEEE funded hours may be considered, subject to specific criteria
• funding rates are currently under review; funding will continue at the existing rates for the Autumn term.

Banding and funding

Children fall into specific funding bands:

• children banded as AN/SEN support can be met within the ordinarily available resources
• children receiving FEEE 3/4 in any band are eligible for financial support
• children not yet receiving FEEE 3/4 can access funding if they are banded medium to high

The table below shows the full details of SENIF eligibility against FEEE entitlement and the banding descriptors:

For information about how children banded medium or high can access top up funding for more than their FEEE hours, visit the Exceptional circumstances section.

Download a copy of the Eligibility table (PDF, 65KB)

Apply for SENIF now