Nursery grant (used to be called Vouchers I think)

[prettycandles]

How do I find out about these? I am not convinced by ds's nursery's calculation of how much I should be receiving. Also, are the nursery allowed to hold back some of the grant?

[mrsflowerpot]

Your local authority website maybe? Ours is pretty good on this. DS has just qualified for this, you get it in the term after their 3rd birthday. We get up to 5 x 2.5hour sessions per week, for 11 week terms (ie 33 weeks per year). This can be split across more than one provider. There was a maximum amount per session (about £7.50 I think), above which we would have had to pay the difference, but there's no refund if the session is cheaper. Hope that helps.

[sponge]

The grant is for you, not the nursery. They just apply on your behalf. So no, they're not allowed to hold any back.
My dd attends nursery full time and gets an amount per term - can't remeber how much but about £360 I think. I can check if you like.

[Jimjams]

check with your local authority. In ours you are entitled to 5 session but if your child attends for 3 then you will get 3/5 of the grant. The authority is trying to introduce some stupid system where if a child misses 10 sessions during 1 term their grant is withdrawn. Grants are paid in arreas (but gven to the parents in advance) so a few chickenpox outbreaks and the nurseries will be well and truly stufed.

[littlerach]

You receive 5 x 2.5 hrs a week, you can combine a max of 2 vouchers per session, and make up any difference on it. They are only usable in term time, not on inset days either. You can use them in more than one session. Usually they are available in the term after 3rd bday, but if there is a backlog then your LEA may withold until term following this.
Your setting will receive them, not you, all you have to do is sign for their use.
HTH!!!

[prettycandles]

Argh! I'm even more confused now! Well, I'll try the council's website (I hate visiting it).

Thanks

[bundle]

it's called the specific grant and I thought that even if you did only say 3 sessions, you still got money for 5. some nurseries get the money in a lump, and so don't give you the 'discount' till they've had the money in.

[prettycandles]

In case anyone's interested, this is what I found out:

Here in Brent you get £416 per 11-week term. You get it pro-rata, so if your child is only doing 3 sessions, then they get 3/5 of £416. The council defines a session as 2 1/2 hours, but ds's nursery does 3 hour sessions - it makes no difference, as it's the number of sessions that counts, not the number of hours.

The nursery applies for it and gets it in a lump-sum, which it is then up to the nursery to decide how it is passed to you (one term we had a discount every week, one term we had the first few weeks free then paid in full for the rest of the term). Outside termtime you pay the full amount - unless the nursery has decided to spread the discount further. The entire amount that the council grants has to be passed on to you via the reduction in fees - the nursery cannot hold any back.

What you get depends on the number of sessions your child is doing on a set day, usually the 1st day of term, and the grant arrives about half-way through the term. If you increase your child's sessions after the grant has been applied for you will not get any more money, and if you reduce his or her sessions then the nursery has to return the outstanding amount.

If you take the child out of nursery then the nursery has to return the outstanding amount. If you move the child to another nursery, even in the same borough, you cannot get another grant until the beginning of the next term, or whenever it is that the new nursery applies for grants.

And I now know that ds's nursery are being perfectly honest and correct in their calculations, they just can't explain for toffee!