Nursery are threatening to remove my child as I questioned fees

Technically they cannot enforce the charge it's a legal requirement. You should be able to send in nappies etc and meals and not have to pay tip up fees. To register to provide the funded hours they would have had to sign to agree to this.

I need to double check but I think arts and craft type stuff should be covered by the funding and they cannot charge top up for this.

It's shit that so many providers charge these top up fees. I remember when funded hours came in there was absolutely no charging it and providers lost the funding if they did. Now most everyone does it.

And yes childcare is low wages but the funding DOES cover the costs. It's just such a stretch when you have managers and owners taking a cut and not working in the rooms in ratio. You can have 4 children to an adult and area depending that's £22 an hour coming in- the workers don't get that much.

I'm a childminder and never charge the top up fees it's immoral I think as excludes the families without the means to pay it and goes against the whole initial point of funded hours which is education for all and particular help for those in poverty.

Technically they cannot enforce the charge it's a legal requirement. You should be able to send in nappies etc and meals and not have to pay tip up fees. To register to provide the funded hours they would have had to sign to agree to this.

I need to double check but I think arts and craft type stuff should be covered by the funding and they cannot charge top up for this.

It's shit that so many providers charge these top up fees. I remember when funded hours came in there was absolutely no charging it and providers lost the funding if they did. Now most everyone does it.

And yes childcare is low wages but the funding DOES cover the costs. It's just such a stretch when you have managers and owners taking a cut and not working in the rooms in ratio. You can have 4 children to an adult and area depending that's £22 an hour coming in- the workers don't get that much.

I'm a childminder and never charge the top up fees it's immoral I think as excludes the families without the means to pay it and goes against the whole initial point of funded hours which is education for all and particular help for those in poverty.

This is what the government want though. They want to be seen as generous and giving and they’re quite happy for settings to come under fire because of it. It wouldn’t look good on government if it was clear how they underfund the sector so much and have historically underfunded it. They know how bad it is yet keep offering more and more to the detriment of settings. Government want children in school from 9months and this just helps towards that.

Technically they cannot enforce the charge it's a legal requirement. You should be able to send in nappies etc and meals and not have to pay tip up fees. To register to provide the funded hours they would have had to sign to agree to this.

I need to double check but I think arts and craft type stuff should be covered by the funding and they cannot charge top up for this.

It's shit that so many providers charge these top up fees. I remember when funded hours came in there was absolutely no charging it and providers lost the funding if they did. Now most everyone does it.

And yes childcare is low wages but the funding DOES cover the costs. It's just such a stretch when you have managers and owners taking a cut and not working in the rooms in ratio. You can have 4 children to an adult and area depending that's £22 an hour coming in- the workers don't get that much.

I'm a childminder and never charge the top up fees it's immoral I think as excludes the families without the means to pay it and goes against the whole initial point of funded hours which is education for all and particular help for those in poverty.

She can take her complaint to Ofsted anytime.

Technically they cannot enforce the charge it's a legal requirement. You should be able to send in nappies etc and meals and not have to pay tip up fees. To register to provide the funded hours they would have had to sign to agree to this.

I need to double check but I think arts and craft type stuff should be covered by the funding and they cannot charge top up for this.

It's shit that so many providers charge these top up fees. I remember when funded hours came in there was absolutely no charging it and providers lost the funding if they did. Now most everyone does it.

And yes childcare is low wages but the funding DOES cover the costs. It's just such a stretch when you have managers and owners taking a cut and not working in the rooms in ratio. You can have 4 children to an adult and area depending that's £22 an hour coming in- the workers don't get that much.

I'm a childminder and never charge the top up fees it's immoral I think as excludes the families without the means to pay it and goes against the whole initial point of funded hours which is education for all and particular help for those in poverty.

She can take her complaint to Ofsted anytime.

The funding is not sufficient. You do know nurseries are profit seeking businesses?
They always ask for extra for food and supplies now.
Its the only way they can legit give the free hours the government has forced on them.
If you'd rather pay for the hours and less of an add-on fee than do so. Or switch providers.
But none will fail to add at least a few quid a day onto the 'free' hours. They cannot afford not to.

What sort of action do you think she can take exactly?

Then they should put in writing the reason why they terminate the contract when she has been paying dutifully and she should be able to take action if so she wishes.

This reminds me of a friend who would, in the mid 1990s, collect vouchers for a free pizza from a newspaper and then proceed to the restaurant, asking for a free pizza and .... tap water. But she was from Estonia and did not realise how free market enterprises work. I had to explain to her that if Brits would use a voucher, they would order drinks and starters and desserts because the restaurant has to make money. She was genuinely surprised.

Then they should put in writing the reason why they terminate the contract when she has been paying dutifully and she should be able to take action if so she wishes.

Equally OP's loss of a childcare place is not the Nursery's problem.

My lord the comments on here…

The OP didn’t go to the police with a report on fraud nor HMRC on money laundering.

She asked the council if what they charge is controversial as it seems to be a big jump from one month to the next.

If that prompted an investigation it’s not OP’s problem but the nursery as the should be transparent about what they charge.

when a setting is investigated over funding, it’s generally not a small affair. It’s not just that particular child they will look at and the policies. They generally want to see the figures for every funded child, the registers for each child to tally up with the funding they have received, each and every invoice for each child to see what has been charged, the parental declaration forms for each child, what the consumables cover, the reasoning behind it, expenses to show what it covers. Sometimes they will look at one term sometimes more. It’s not a quick call where they can explain their reasoning, it’s an investigation and an audit all rolled into one.

It would be so much easier and transparent if providers were allowed to charge top up fees as then it would be absolutely clear that the government underfund childcare and parents who were previously paying, for example, your £6 per hour would only pay £1 an hour and be happy with that.

Calling it 'consumables', 'care package' or 'extra charge' makes it look like providers are being greedy or making things up rather than what they are actually doing which is ensuring they are not being paid less than their hourly rate.