To be delighted with thirty free hours child care!!!

[Lookingforabetteryear]

I have a three year old , I'm a single mum and work full time . On average I pay £700 pm for nursery fees . From sept I'll be paying £285!!! Bloody wonderful move in childcare policy. Am I missing something with this ?! Seems too good to be true.

[PrincessLeia80]

We do get some help through but very little the nursery charges £38 for a morning session 9-1 then £5 for lunch and £36 for 1-5 that's every day 5 days a week and I pay if my child goes or not if I reduce hours down they say they won't guarantee a place and as I have placements and changeable lectures I can't reduce it!

[pigletpie29]

Can't Even get past the first page of the website because of technical issues! So I'm reserving judgement until it actually happens. Things that seem too good to be true generally are...

[Jellymuffin]

Our school nursery are putting their fees up be £10 PER DAY to cover this. If you are a working parent of an under 3 in childcare you are going to be truly shafted to cover this!

[Jellymuffin]

Looking at all your costs - out local nursery are £50 per day in the Midlands. I though this was standard but obviously not!

[Screwinthetuna]

At my child's preschool meeting, the teacher said that instead of the £12.50 that we pay now pay per session (3 hours), the government will now be paying them £3.50. They can't afford to lose children who's parents would then take them elsewhere so it's kind of crucifying them

[Jellymuffin]

I know this is going to get me a flaming but I think it's really unfair that unemployed mothers under a certain household income get free childcare from 2. You're at home so you don't need it. The only explanation I can think for it is that the government think you can't raise your children to a good standard yourself which is highly offensive.

[Writerwannabe83]

My CM offers the 15 free hours and the 30 free hours.

My DS currently has his 15 free hours and our childcare bill went down from £400 a month to about £70 a month. He starts his 30 hours in September so this will drop lower again.

[ThanksMsMay]

I don't think that's legal reallydontgetit I'd speak to your council about that nursery.

Op there are some people who are being quite harsh presumably they aren't struggling to afford nursery for their children. The people to be angry at are the government types who use this to win votes but don't pay the nurseries enough.

To the Sahm mum morning about no 30 hour funding... you can teach your 3 year old their letters! Do you really think you need 30 hours funding?

[noblegiraffe]

Both pre-schools near me shut down because they couldn't afford to run on the 15 free hours funding from the council. So instead of free childcare for 15 hours I now have to pay to put DD in an exceptionally expensive nursery for pre-school, which is inconveniently located so she can't only do the free hours and I have to pay over the odds for the hours either side and food. It's costing me more money.

[Fruitcocktail6]

Jellymuffin

It's for 15 hours a week, so it's not childcare, it's entirely for the benefit of the child.

Where I work, many families are Bangladeshi and do not speak English, it massively benefits the child to spend time with other children and learn the language.

Some of the families eligible also are struggling, whether you'd like to admit it or not, and the child spending time at a nursery will flag up areas of concern and get the families help if they need it.

[sallywiththegoodhurr]

I think it's a great idea, but I'm not sure how it can work out in practice.

Our nursery is full and cannot accommodate the extra hours - they have even sent a letter home asking if we actually need the hours we currently have because other families may need them more Seriously.

That plus the underfunding etc, I can see it being short lived!

[FloatedWide]

The situation Screw describes is happening all over the country. So do these lovely independent nurseries cut corners with your child's early years education (loss of experienced staff, for example) to makes ends meet or do they close altogether?

[Tanaqui]

I assumed Lesley wanted the 30 hours so she could go back to work, but they are being offered to children already in the nursery so she can't get them? Otherwise as a sahm I think 15 hours is enough for early education.

We used to get it knocked off the termly bill when it first came in, but it did mean we effectively got a nice subsidy for a lovely private nursery that we had chosen before the scheme was introduced, so not surprised they tightened that up.

[OnionKnight]

I can only speak for my LA but at the moment we have about ten daycare settings that will be closing at the end of term because they can't afford to implement the 30 hours, some of these settings are older than me and very, very good.

The whole thing has not been thought out at all.

[ThanksMsMay]

Leslie aid she gave up her income to look after her kids but is being penalised because preschool is only for working parents. The 15 hours is for children to bridge the gap between poorer children and better off kids but no need for 30 hours

[strawberrygate]

I never understand childcare providers who say they can't afford to provide it. It's very simple; take the hourly rate given by the council, times it by 30 and knock that off the bill. Don't see the problem?

[strawberrygate]

Of course, my comment only works if the child attends the setting for more than 30 hours.

[ThanksMsMay]

I don't think they are actually allowed to do that strawberry though obviously some do.

[strawberrygate]

The council have absoloutely no idea how you do it. I'm a childcare provider and that's how I've been doing the 15 hours for years. To me it's very simple. That way i get the same money, and the parent gets a discount. the way some nurseries engineer it so they are effectively being paid twice is dishonest and greedy

[RoboticSealpup]

The current 15 free hours amounted to a saving of £1 a day for us

What!? How come?

Our nursery put their fees up by £16/day last year (now £85) and they haven't even decided whether they are going to offer the 30 hours...

[jojomo]

Strawberrygate

I am on the committee of a preschool, we are absolutely not allowed to do as you suggest. We have to sign a provider agreement with th local authority which stipulates this and we are audited etc to ensure we abide by the rules.

[Bearfrills]

I know this is going to get me a flaming but I think it's really unfair that unemployed mothers under a certain household income get free childcare from 2. You're at home so you don't need it

1. Is it just mothers you're judging here because you make no mention of fathers?
   

1. It's not just unemployed people, those who are working and on a low income are also eligible, as are people in receipt of ESA and Pension Credit.
   

1. Children who are in receipt of DLA or have SEN are eligible regardless of parents income.
   

1. The 15hrs for two year olds in not childcare, it is early years education. It is only available in term time and only during standard school hours (usually delivered Monday to Friday in three hour sessions of either 9-12 or 12-3 or thereabouts). It's entirely for the benefit of the child and is targeted at children who are considered to be at risk of having an educational disadvantage.

[ThanksMsMay]

Yes but the point is that parents who can't afford nursery at all can access it. So that's why some aren't offering it. You can't simply expect them to do something illegally. The obvious answer would be for the government to up the money for nurseries

[strawberrygate]

jojo you absoloutely are allowed to engineer it in any way you want so it benefits the parent with no loss to yourself. The rules can be used to allow this in a variety of ways but the simplest is to just knock the 15 / 30 hours off. Believe me, I've gone into this in detail with my council. Try speaking to yours, you'll find they bend over backwards to have providers take the free hours.

[Lesley1980]

Yesterday 23:14 NatureIsAWhore

why do you have to send her to nursery lesley if you're a sahm?


Yesterday 23:21 NapQueen

I'm a SAHM & don't qualify for the free childcare so our daughter is going to have to go to a private nursery which will cost us £6000 a year

Forgive me, but if you are a SAHM you do not require childcare. Why should you get it for free? Unless there are extenuating circumstances you omitted in your post.

Neither do you have to send her to a private nursery at a cost to you of £6k. You could choose to do so. If you have the funds. Which you appear to. Rendering your point moot.


Council nursery is pre school nursery. My daughter is coming up to age 3. It's for her benefit not mine. Why shouldn't she get that?

She is entitled to 15hrs which I'm happy with & I don't want to exceed but the council can't provide it trying to accommodate working parents who in reality probably won't use the service as they need longer hours than 9-3.