Coming up
Funded childcare for two year olds starts 7 September
Eligible two year olds can get 12.5 funded hours a week from next Monday. The promise is a place closer to home. The test is whether the place exists when a parent in Llandovery or Pendine rings around.
Carmarthenshire opens the next phase of the Welsh Government childcare expansion on 7 September. Eligible two year olds will be entitled to 12.5 hours a week of funded care through registered providers. The council says the offer will run across the county, not only in the towns. Cabinet member for children and families Cllr Jane Tremlett called it a step toward a more even provision. “We are working closely with childcare providers to prepare for this next phase and ensure that sufficient childcare places are available to meet growing demand,” she said.
Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams, who holds the childcare brief in Cardiff, welcomed the county onto the list. All 22 Welsh local authorities are now said to be on track to offer the same 12.5 hours to every two year old by the end of March 2027. That is the first phase of a longer plan. The government has also talked about 20 hours a week for children from nine months to four years. That is not what starts next week.
What parents actually get
The 12.5 hours sit on top of the older Flying Start offer, which has been limited to named areas and rolled out in phases since 2023. Flying Start childcare runs from the term after a child turns two until the end of the term they turn three. The Family Information Service still tells parents to check a postcode checker or email flyingstart@carmarthenshire.gov.uk, because not every street is in yet.
Council figures published for the expansion put Carmarthenshire on course to support around 1,169 eligible two year olds by the end of the programme. Phase 2, 2023 to 2025, covered 279 children. Phase 3, 2025 to 2026, another 250. That was described as about half of full rollout. Welsh Government sends a priority list of areas. The county works down it as the money arrives. This is still a queue, not a tap.
Nursery fees without an entitlement remain high. Coram’s 2026 survey put a two year old in Wales at about 166 pounds a week for 25 hours and 330 pounds for 50 hours. The new funded slice is 12.5 hours, not a full working week. Families still pay for the rest, and for under twos there is still no funded entitlement in Wales.
Places, staff and the rural gap
The press line is that care will be closer to home. The practical limit is the registered setting. Childminders and nurseries in Carmarthen and Llanelli are one map. Villages on the Tywi, the Gwendraeth and the north of the county are another. A BBC survey earlier this year found only three councils in Wales had already given 12.5 hours to every two year old. Carmarthenshire was grouped with authorities covering between 54 and 59 percent of two year olds. Most councils told the BBC they were waiting on more money from Cardiff, not only for places but for buildings and staff.
In June the government announced a 55 million pound package in the supplementary budget to push the rollout and to help settings expand. Ten million of that was earmarked for buildings and kit. Carmarthenshire providers can still apply for the small capital grant scheme this year, first come first served until 1 December 2026 or until the pot is empty. Childminders face a 7,500 pound cap. IT kit and vehicles are out, except for newly registered providers.
Welsh medium places are supposed to be a priority in the expansion. That matters in a county where the next Welsh nursery can be a drive, not a walk. If the extra hours land only in English medium rooms in the two big towns, the “closer to home” promise will not hold in Llandybie, Laugharne or Llandovery.
How to check
Parents should use the Family Information Service postcode checker and speak to a registered provider before treating 7 September as an automatic start date. Eligibility still turns on age, address and whether a place is actually funded in that area this term. The March 2027 deadline for every two year old in Wales is the political date. Next Monday is only the next slice.
The Chronicle will come back on take up after the first half term, and on whether rural and Welsh medium places have moved at the same speed as the towns.