Do you pay your nursery's essentials and extras fee?

[Brightyellowflowers]

My DCs go to a private nursery and receive the 30 hours funding. We've just had notification that the fee they charge for extras is now "non-mandatory" (as per new government guidance). They charge £1.80 per funded hour, which doesn't sound much, but for two kids it's an extra £171 a month each... which is 4k a year!

I appreciate that government funding doesn't always cover their costs, but I can't afford to pay 4k if I don't have to. What is everyone doing? Do you pay this charge? I feel like the nursery is guilt tripping parents into paying it and just wanted to check what the norm is.

I think £1.80 is a great price. £3 for every funded or part funded hour here.

Pay it or find somewhere else, if you can. It is what it is.

Personally I'd much rather pay £3 than the nursery offer no funded hours or be really restrictive on use of the funded hours. Vaild between 8-4 for us which means we don't have to pay too many non-funded hours.

Our nursery has been very reasonable and our total bill is about £170 a month - for 1 full day and two mornings.

There is no option not to pay at our nursery. The care activities and food are excellent.

It’s not about causing trouble or otherwise, it’s about ensuring that the service continues. What will happen if everyone stops paying: nurseries will close. Will that make you better off?

Just pay it.

I heard that if parents stop paying the extras, nurseries will put up their base rate further, close or stop accepting funded pupils. Presumably this would make it completely unaffordable for you and you'd either have to change nursery or stop working to look after your children? I'd just pay it.

I pay it - our bill for 4 days a week with 30 hours free funding for my 3 year old is about £850 a month. That includes a non-mandatory daily cost to cover essentials. I think it has always been the case that it isn't allowed to be compulsory. So, maybe this email was just to clarify?
I am sure I could question it but I wouldn't dream of doing so. I was aware of the cost of the nursery when we signed up and it has provided me with amazing care for my two sons. I wouldn't want to feel responsible for a degradation in service because it wasn't making enough money to pay enough staff, for example. That is what happens when people who could but don't pay. Where I am, a couple of nurseries have gone under and new, way more expensive ones have opened. Now those who didn't pay (I know a couple of people) have bigger bills than they would have previously - a clear case of a few people spoiling it for everyone else.

Ours is £16/day and at the moment it isn't optional.

We also provide (and always have provided) our own wipes and nappies, and we aren't allowed to bring food in from home she to allergies.

Exactly!
We need more state funded childcare options that cover wraparound care
and more infrastructure built to implement this. More women can then afford to return to work and continue their career and families won’t be spending a massive proportion of their income on childcare. This will be good for the economy and an investment for the future as the low birth rate is a ticking time bomb.

Some of the chain nurseries are making huge profits with bank accounts held offshore.

OP - look up the landmark ruling on nursery fees - this is why the nursery is having to ask for more money instead of charging you directly:
https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/governance/396-governance-news/59965-high-court-judge-rejects-legal-challenge-by-council-over-ombudsman-report-in-nursery-fees-case

I do think that charity daycare should be exempt from this.
Childminder rates also need increasing for ages 3 and 4.

Our nursery only offers the 15 hours not the 30. It's very popular and has a waiting list so that's obviously not putting parents off.

If you're not entitled to the 30 hours for whatever reason, it's actually cheaper to use a nursery that doesn't offer them as you're not cross-subsidising supposedly "funded" places while getting no benefit from the scheme yourself. It's much better to have your children in a nursery where everyone largely pays their way and therefore it's properly funded and a viable business rather than relying on derisory government funding rates.

We need them, yes, but we don't have them.

It might be the case that more women are impacted by this cost, but the alternative is that they decide not to pay, everyone's costs go up, nurseries either close or don't accept funded hours anymore, then you're either out of work to care for your child (further impact) or scrabbling trying to find a more expensive place.

You don't win by not paying for the things your child uses while they're there.

If you and others don’t pay, the nursery will likely have to close. Pay up. They’re not ripping you off. This is what it costs to look after your children.

Really surprised at the number of people saying just pay! Don’t just pay. You don’t have to and there’s legal precedent not to! There needs to be a collective revolt, no one pays and the government is forced
to pay more. Take a look at Companies House and see just how wealthy the owners of the top nursery chains are. It’s no coincidence that they’ve all put up fees as the funding has come in in general, before we look at the top ups. It’s the responsibility of the childcare sufficiency team/officer at your LEA to ensure that there is adequate early years provision. Lobby them for more if the service isn’t adequate. Don’t give extra money you don’t have to to some of the wealthiest people in the land. You don’t find a poor nursery chain or old people’s home owner.

@Daisydiary is that why nurseries are closing across the country, and not all areas have nurseries run by chains

If nurseries close it would force the government’s hands into opening affordable provision. We can’t go on paying this much - we are one of the most expensive countries in the world for childcare and if other countries manage it, then so can we. Having mainly private nurseries is not a model we should have and the government needs to borrow to invest in state sustainable nursery school infrastructure and could be ran with any profits crucially put back into education - perhaps free for core hours but then charge reasonable fees for extra.
The government have already created a degree for the early years leaders so this fits in well.

Nowadays due to the cost of living, both parents are forced to work and for many there is no choice.

We shouldn’t be paying up and shutting up.

they are lying and breaking the terms of the funding agreement.
They have to give you the option of providing your own food

What's your plan while the nurseries are closed and the government realise they need to set something up, then actually do it? Cos if my nursery closes, by the time they sort out the alternative, my daughter will be at school and I'll have had to give up work to look after her til then and we'll be in the crap because we need my wage.

I also have no issues with paying for things my child eats or uses. Why would I have an issue with paying for my child?

Yes this! Completely agree!
Plus most of that money is going into offshore accounts and that is bad for the economy.

We need to have more teacher led, wrap around state nursery provision that pays a decent wage and retains staff.

I would increase the fees for childminders for 3 and 4 year olds (with the provision that they operate from their own residence) and a maximum of 6.
Existing preschools could be better funded and offer more hours with decent rates of pay for staff.

I’m not saying private nurseries can’t exist - they just won’t be eligible to give funded hours which are lot are doing anyway.

Clearly this would be a huge programme but one we need to sort as things are not sustainable as they are.
We should have invested into this while interest rates were at historic lows.

We should, we didn't. Anything we do now just massively impacts the parents with nursery attending kids and so you'll find most, logistically and financially, can't just "not pay".

Consumables/ top up fees have always been optional. The only thing that’s changed is nurseries now have to be transparent about it.

The nursery provides home cooked meals, milk, alternatives for allergies. Resources, outings. Outside companies to come in for the children. Summer parties, leaving parties. All of this costs money. To keep your nursery at the standard it is, you need to continue to pay.

Not to mention wages, overheads and everything else.

How do primary schools manage allergies? My son took a packed lunch for years as he had a problem with eating the school lunches (many other children did too). The named lunch bag had an ice pack, lunch, snacks and a drink. It was hung on his peg each morning with his coat. Parents knew not to add things like nuts.
I think nurseries are using this as an excuse to charge unnecessary fees in some cases and may be detrimental to anyone claiming funded hours who can’t afford a £5 lunch for their child.

you are bob on.
They need to manage allergies as other places do.
They are breaking their terms and need challenging on it

I realised this when my DD started school!!

She tells me they hand out cookies, hot chocolate when doing forest school etc, this would have been unheard of in nursery as they always cited allergies! I must say though, whenever I visited the nursery, loads of kids had some sort of allergen next to their picture on the wall.

Wouldn't your place be at risk of you don't pay? Lunches are not optional at the one my son uses, they cook them on site. The funding should kick in next week but I will still be paying for that.

What the Gov gives these nurseries to cover the free hours isn’t enough to keep the nursery running so they need to charge these fees to be able to offer the free hours in the first place.