AIBU - No benefit from 15 free hours

[ilovepenguins79]

I have just had my invoice from my daughter's nursery for her first month of funded hours. We get 15 hours - 11 as its stretched. Its a private day nursery.

However the invoice is for exactly the same amount of money as the month before due to the extra charges made every month. So the nursery gets the £500 apx that we always paid plus the funding from the government.

AIBU? Surely this is not right that the nursery seems to be making money from the funding as well as charging us? Isn't the point of funding to make it more accessible?

I’m so confused.

They can't charge top ups but they can charge for meals and other extras. Also you might have been having some sort of discount on your place for having 5 days a week which doesn't apply anymore now you have some funded hours. Ask for a breakdown.

It does seem particularly harsh. I guess you can vote with your feet if you can find somewhere that offers the funding at least to give you a discount equal to what they receive even if it covers less than 11 hours.

Have they detailed the charges on the invoice? And is their website/price list clear in what is included in the paid for hours but excluded from the free hours?

Oh now I get it. That doesn’t sound right to me. They’re not allowed to charge recipients of funded places for things that are part of the service for non-funded customers.

If you're entitled to funding you get 15 hours. So the nursery make up the lost income by charging for wraparound care and food etc. So ask them for a breakdown of those fees you are paying.

For my three year old (before funding kicked in) we paid £52 a day. We now pay £11 in 'top up fees' instead. That is to cover food.
If we want extra hours over the 15 (or 30 depending on if both parents work) then we have to paid the daily rate, dependent on the hours DC is booked in for.

Funding should have started in September - when was your child's birthday? Did you sign the forms for the nursery?

Sounds very wrong to me.
I can sympathise with child care providers who say that the funded hours hourly rate is not sufficient to cover their costs and so they need to be creative with top ups etc. So the total amount is the same as what they would be charging.
But if the invoice is correct (and perhaps it’s an admin error?) they are profiteering and basically just pocketing the government money whilst you carry on paying exactly the same as before.

Your first funded invoice would have been September, if your child has just turned 3 then funding doesnt start until January.

Can’t be right that you see no reduction at all, I’ve had two dc in ft nursery when free hours kicked in and both private nurseries passed on at least a couple of hundred pounds per month of reduction - £150-200 depending, as funding is termly.

If you really get no reduction at all they are swindlers.

Yes it is the first term after their 3rd birthday so if you have a birthday sept-dec it’s Jan. Nice!

The point of funding is to provide education for preschoolers, not to make childcare affordable. That's why it's 15 term time hours only and you can only take 3 per day so if your child is in less than 5 days, you get less.

Surely they can’t make up like £100 a week lost fees in lunch charges for those 2 days?

bertie the setting can offer the hours however they want.

Op did you get a breakdown? Have the free hours definitely started?

That’s not true bertiebotts. Up to 10 hours per day can be used- it’s up to the setting.

Yes your funded hours won’t start til January.

Free hours wouldn't start in november or December, they start the term following the child's third birthday, so they'd either start in September, January or April (after the Easter break). Are you sure you're now eligible?

DD was born in September - this is my January bill which they send 6 weeks in advance.

Sorry to jump on your threat OP but I'm confused about this 15 free hours.... we are due to get them next year and I was just under the impression that rather than spending 22.5 hours a week on nursery (lg is in 3 days a week 8 until 3.30) we will pay 22.5 minus the 15 hours = 7.5 hours for us to pay per week. But from reading this thread my bubble has been burst?
I also thought you get 15 free hours when they turn 2 and 30 free hours when they turn 3? At my LGs nursery they then make them go full time when they turn 3 because of this.

@churchandstate for the preschool hours they are allowed to charge for meals and activities (not sure if this is the case with the means tested 2yr old free hours)

It does seem incredibly steep though. Are they perhaps charging the top up fees 5 days per week as opposed to only for the ‘funded’ days? So you’re effectively paying for those meals and activities twice -once in the fees you pay per hour and once as a ‘top-up’ if that makes sense?
I would ask for a breakdown to clarify what you’re paying for.

2 year old funding isn’t for everyone, only those on very low incomes or other specific circumstances @popsadaisy

All children get 15 hours from the term after they turn 3 and thirty hours for those with two working parents (16 hours plus).

So a full day costs £52. i have 3 days a week. there's a charge of £2.50 per day for half an hour unfunded hours in the evening and then additional service charge of £15 per day for things like the staff all being level 3 qualified and access to their additional land around the nursery etc. Something seems very wrong for it to be the same as unfunded months so i am going to have a look through my invoice when DD goes to sleep and I can actually concentrate!

Have you given them your code?

I agree that something doesn’t sound quite right. What are their T&C regarding funding hours?

Some nurseries can be quite awkward. A friends nursery only accepted funded hours between 9-11 and 1-4 Monday to Friday, so you had to pay for the lunch hour, and lunch as well as only being able to utilise the hours in full if you’re child went to that nursery mon- fri from 8-4 and you incurred the additional fees on top, even if you didn’t need those hours/days

Ask them for a full breakdown

I think the 15 free hours apply to everyone but the 30 are means tested.

It will vary nursery to nursery on whether they charge top ups for meals and activities as it’s their choice. It is also up to the nursery how much they can charge.

pops you get 15 hrs if eligable the term aftey they tun 2. Then 30 the term after they turn 3. Hours are term time only.

Nurseries dont have to offer it. Most do and some will dictate when and how you take them. A lot will want money for meals etc.

For instance we paid £200 a week for FT nursery for ds.

Now we pay £41 per day for mon and fri, and get tues weds and thurs funded (so 3 x 10hr days) . We pay £5 per funded day so we now pay £97 per week term time.

In the hols its still £200pw.

Hope that helps!