OFSTED REGISTRATION FEES.....................................

[bossybritches]

.....are set to rise again (having put them up twice this year) and they are proposing that by 2010 they will be over £400 for daycare nurseries?????

I'm sorry but I don't see what we get for our money now & as far as I'm concerned they are a govt-funded body not a profit making business?

Will also put this on the CM page as it affects us all.

Grrrrr

[bossybritches]

The only people who will be able to afford this are the large nursery chains and/or Sure-Start centres that are subsidised to the hilt anyway.

Small popular nurseries,child-minders & CM centres will be frozen out & we will see an increase in cash in hand childcare & unregistered carers.

Quite how that wil benefit ANYONE is beyond me.

[mumofhelen]

I agree with the previous poster. Our playgroup insurance is steadily going up too, despite no claims.

There are fundamentals that require payment: building maintenance and supplies (i.e paint work, carpets, heating, water, loo paper, soap, paper towels, cleaning products and general wear and tear stuff including new toys etc), staff pay - a minimum of NVQ level 3 qualified staff per 4 children, insurance and the yearly OFSTED fee.

As these increase, fees and fundraising will need to increase too. The maximum we can charge is £8 per session (we are currently charging between £5.50 and £6.50). It doesn't take Einstein to figure out that playgroup like ours will have to close, unless the government as a minimum subsidises staff pay.

[bossybritches]

Exactly MOH.

If the govt would at least subsidise the staff wages directly (so the owners/managers can't be accused of pocketing it!) I would happily pass it all straight on to encourage them to stay.

As you say there is still a minimum you can charge for fees as if we really put them up high to cover all costs plus a bit no-one would come!

[bossybritches]

Bloody hell!!!

Just been read this link....

Dfes document

If I read it corectly they are proposing a 2-300% increase in fees over 3 years????

What level of inflation are they anticipating??

AND we'll have to pay for our own CRB checks by the look of it too....

[mumofhelen]

And that's simply not going to happen where I live. Athough employment rates locally are high, the average wage is low. 80% of the population our playgroup serves has a household income of less than £20,000 with the vast majority of wages locally being along the £11-13,000 mark (following a good summer). It's only the hauliers who have better pay who bring the household incomes up. There is no way the average family here can fork out more than say, £12 a session because then the session per hour rate starts to match a parent's per hour wage. If you are on the minimum wage of say £5.52 an hour and your childcare costs are the same per hour, then you are unlikely to return to work! I can then forsee our community going from a high employment but low pay, to a high unemployment with no pay. This is not the right direction for a community to head towards! Unfortunately, the decision makers tend to think large scale urban areas and forget about the small scale rural areas.

[mumofhelen]

The proposed fee levels for our playgroup in 2010 is £400. We currently pay £20 (we are in band 2). We are registered to care for a maximum of 16 children. With a the SureStart Centre 1/2hour walk or 10 minutes drive up the road from our playgroup, there's no way on God's earth we will survive. Another wonderfull legacy from Tony Blair. The closure of small rural playgroups. Nice one Tony. .

[bossybritches]

MOH it seems unless you are a big business (whether childcare of whatever) tehy doin't want to know about helping small rural groups/businesses.

What these bloody politicians don't realise is that we are a vital part of the community & encouraging your small PG for example is a lovely way for children to feel they belong & have the sense of continuity. They can walk to nursery/PG, their parents know each other & local events are celebrated as well as national ones.

Grrr don't get me started!!