AIBU to not want to pay nursery lunch fees rn

[starrain]

Hi all

Bit of background. My 4year old DD was in private nursery 4 days 9-4pm. She gets 30 hours. We pay £22.5 a week for lunch and tea- this was all prior to covid.

The nursery has since reopened yesterday and we are not sending her back (maybe in a few weeks time) but they are still claiming the 30 hours....AND charging us £22.50 a week.

I spoke to her today and said why are we paying for lunches when she isnt there. She said because it's not just lunches, its resources too. Ok what resources only 3 kids have gone back in the whole nursery. Also, isnt that what the 30 hours money covers??

DD is going reception in september so we dont even need to keep our place here. I didnt want to leave on a bad note and actually would have liked to have sent her maybe 2 days a week.
Could we give notice and leave and not pay the £22.5 a week? What are our rights.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

Just to point out - they can't claim full furlough and the 30 hours funding. Nurseries can only claim furlough in line with the proportion of their income which does not come from the govt already. Just worth highlighting as it means their costs aren't reduced as much as you would think

[bubblev]

What hours is your dd doing? Remember staff have to be there before & after dc have arrived/left & the funding often doesn't cover those hours.

[bubblev]

I think the maximum a setting can claim per hour per child is £6.30 & remember they don't have to offer 30 hours, it's optional.

[SandieCheeks]

Where I am it’s £4 an hour funding.

[bubblev]

yes it varies by location so the max will be £6 something in London

[OnlyFoolsnMothers]

So OP you pay the subsidy when you go on holiday? If so, what’s the difference now? The space is there you are choosing not to
Use it

[Looneytune253]

Nurseries that claim funding can't also claim furlough so they are likely to be at a loss. Finding puts then at a huge loss anyway so that's why nurseries add charges as they're usually not even breaking even with funding:

[starrain]

Hi everyone

Thanks for the advice I just wanted to make sure they weren't taking the p. And its us who are not sending her, they are happy to accept her.
Suppose it's just down to us now, either we send her in a few weeks or give notice. That's another topic!

[heartsonacake]

Yeah, since it’s you choosing not to send her you either need to pay or give notice to take her out.

[CaveMum]

Even if there are staff furloughed the nursery still have overheads to cover - rent, utilities, pension contributions for staff, etc. Our nursery asked all parents to pay fees for April if they were able to, even though the nursery was closed to all but key workers, because there was a real chance they’d go bust if they didn’t have that income to keep them ticking over while they sorted out government support etc. We then didn’t have to pay anything until the nursery reopened to all children this week.