30 hours free childcare

[WhiteCat1704]

My DS is eligible for 30 free hours childcare from September. I was looking forward to a significant reduction in fees which are high as he is full time.

As he is full time-5 days per week, 52 weeks per year he gets a 15% discount on a day rate. As do other full time kids.

I found out today that when his funded hours kick in we will lose that discount!! So the almost 5k the nursery will get from the council will not give us the 5k reduction
It will be more like 2.5k.

I have asked them to justify it and they just repeated about how the government doesn't give enough money to cover costs...
Their cost have not suddenly went up as we are getting the funding. He is still there full time. They removed our discount and will be getting 2.5k more for him being there...

I'm annoyed enough about it to consider changing nurseries but DS is so well settled that I don't want to.

They are ripping us off aren't they?
Do other nurseries do the same?

Just to add. The govt pay the local councils £4.50 ph the council are then able to deduct a proportion for admin fees. I use my hours split between nursery and childminder but after deductions my local council pay the childcare providers about £3.97 ph so not surprising so many nurseries are folding .

For anyone interested, this is the link to the 2019-2020 rates that local authorities receive from central govt. The amount is per child, per hour. LAs must pass on a minimum of 95% of that figure, although in some exceptions they can pass on slightly less if the provider offers the 30 hours entitlement.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-national-funding-formula-allocations-and-guidance

This is why I have had to move my dd from her truly wonderful outstanding nursery to a school nursery in September, childcare costs are getting us further and further into debt and so she is going to school nursery where it is free. I am gutted, she has been there since she was 6 months old but I just can’t justify still paying for her nursery fees when school nursery is free. It’s been a tough choice to make and I still don’t know if I’m doing the right thing tbh......

It varies widely between local authorities. Nurseries in Camden, London receive almost double the amount of funding (£8.51) the lowest funded nurseries do (£4.30)

They're not ripping you off. When my DS gets his funding, I still have to top up £1.35 an hour as the local authority rate is much lower than what the childminder usually charges. They have overheads and profit to make as well! So many nurseries and childminding agencies are closing down because of this reason. The government need to pull their finger out and start supporting those who want to work but can not afford to!

This is why there will be a move towards school nurseries, with higher child to adult ratios and more formal education coming in for 3 year olds....yay.

Hazeyjane IME school nurseries are usually no more formal than pre schools. They may roughly follow the routine of the school day (lunch time etc) but in general the vast majority of the day will be spent on child initiated activities. They may have uniforms, but again IME that's less about formal school rules and more that children get very mucky most days and it means their clothes won't get ruined! We introduced a uniform for this exact reason, and it was welcomed by all our parents.

As a childminder I really hate the funded hours. Our council pay £1.75 an hour less than my hourly rate. The paperwork is very time consuming and often confusing and if I don’t charge a top up (which we’re not meant to do) I can’t afford to stay open. I’ve worked so hard at this job, the children are cared for like my own.

What you can do...

Apply for the government scheme where you pay 20% of the fees if you work 16+ hours a week. If you can, put your DC in a school nursery and use the scheme for wraparound care and holiday clubs etc. We're doing it next year when DD turns 3. Look at the Martin Lewis site. It might explain it better!!

Firstly, I'm surprised you were getting a discount just cos he's full time. DS is full time and we don't get a discount for him. So he thankful for that.

The nursery aren't lying to you, the funded hours from.the government probably do not match their hourly rate, and the 30 hours are only for 39 weeks of the year so you need to factor that in..

I think you are being a bit unreasonable. These people are caring for your child and it's a business, not a flipping charity.

I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for you White Cat. It's not that long since my own 3 children stopped using childcare and then it was just the standard 15 hours per week that was funded at their school nursery. A saving of £2500 a year is huge, as it equates to just over £208 per month. Also, please bear in mind the 1140 hours per year are 'funded', not 'free', In order for Childminders and nurseries to stay afloat, their basic costs must be met by someone, although perish the thought this might be the parent of the child who is actually using the service.

The government promised something that nurseries couldn’t deliver. Blame them.

Be thankful you get 30 hours. You don't in Scotland.

30 "free" hours childcare is supposed to help working parents out. It's not designed for nurseries to make extra money on.

That's not exactly true. The 1140 funded hours are to help close the attainment gap in in education children from poor backgrounds.
It's also there to help mothers go back to work who otherwise may not afford to.