Confused about ending childminder contract

[Dystrophin345]

Hi all

Basically my son has been with a childminder for two weeks and we have decided not to send him anymore for various reasons.

I would need to end the contact with the childminder. He gets 15 hour funding and I pay her extra for additional hours.

The contract is term by term so it ends in November. I've told her that he won't be coming anymore and that because I've signed a contract with her I will pay her until November.

Now that's more than enough notice and AIBU to think that I shouldn't pay her even if I've given her more than enough notice.

She told me she needs one weeks notice but this is 2.5 months!

The problem comes with the 15 hour funding because apparently it has gone through with the council and I have no option but to pay her (and use up a 13 weeks of my 15 hours funding).

I am really confused.

Sorry about the grammatical mistakes. Seems like I've got no brain cells left!

Some councils won't allow you to change providers mid term. This would need checking with you council though.
Regardless of if funding has been paid the childminder will be expected to return the money after child leaves so I would accept 4 weeks notice if that's on the contract.
If you want to use funding again before jan you need to ring the council and ask to transfer.

^^ not everywhere. Our rules are different. If a child leaves after headcount day we don’t have to repay and the funding can’t be transferred.

Despite that, I still only have a 4 week termination period so would require payment for 4 weeks only from the parent if there’s top up hours.

Well we are with two different councils. I will speak to them tomorrow

Regarding the top up hours, it's the childminder who decides if she wants the parent to pay or does it have something to do with the funding?

I haven't actually got my contract as she said she will send as when the 15 hour funding has been verified.

Silly me for not asking for it beforehand

Top up hours - I meant hours above the 15 funded.

I do ask for food to be paid for or provided as funding doesn’t cover that.

So they would need to pay for the top up hours even when they end the contract?

For the notice period, yes of course.

Hi, do you not have a settling in section on your contract, with mine I or the parents can terminate the care straight away in the first 4 weeks if it’s not working out. But yes after head account week the provider does not have to pay back the funded hours paid to them so you would have to pay the new provider yourself for this terms fees. Also our la honour notice periods so would use the funding to cover those times too.

We did the settling before the contract. The thing is I never saw a contract and I just signed a hand written sheet with this terms dates and our names.

She then changed the contract because her council said the funding was for 13 not 12 weeks so I signed a new one.

There were no terms on there and now that I want to finish it she said she will send me the contract as I am under the 15 hour funding contract.

All my fault tbh

Update: can't move funding but she wants her money for the 2.5 months (additional hours). Is she being unreasonable. Should I just spare myself the headache and give her the money.

Sadly if it’s in contract you signed then no she is not.

You should have a separate contract for the additional hours not just the la authority form you filled in.

There's nothing in the contract. She only made me sign a paper with the hours and the term dates. She didn't give a copy and told me verbally that it's a weeks notice.

This thread is really confusing. You've answered the same question twice with different answers. I don’t think any of us can help when you do that.

If there's nothing in writing about notice periods then I can't see how she can enforce 2.5 months.

Georgie it's just you.

Childmindermum that's what I think too!

It may vary through councils, but when I was nursery chair, we had to submit registers and return money if a child wasn’t attending the setting.

If you’ve not signed a contract with notice periods, then personally, i’d Just pay for the month.

That's what I've done now!

She was adamant that I would need to pay her top up fees for the entire term but the notice period was one week (said so herself) so ended up paying just that.

Spoke to the council and unfortunately they can't transfer the funding to another setting so I will have to wait until next term.

All confusing but at least I know how it works!

Sounds like you've only signed the funding contract for the local authority. Do you not have a separate contract with your childminder?

This really is confusing because you’re providing hardly any of the information required to answer your question.

Simple question: Is there, or is there not a written contract? I ask because, between 17th and 18th September your posts imply both that there is and there isn’t. This matters because, if not, your case will fall back on whatever was spoken between you and the childminder.

You’ve also mentioned three different notice periods: a week, November, and 'term by term', which would mean Christmas.

You also insist the only thing you signed is a handwritten sheet of dates and names. If that’s the case, then you didn’t sign the necessary forms to support the childminder's funding claim. That changes everything when it comes to whether or not the childminder can legitimately claim any funding money at all, let alone the whole term.

In practical terms, much often depends on who holds the money in question. How far I need advance have you paid, or is it a case of the childminder having to get you to pay what she thinks you owe her?