Coronavirus

[Peony2568]

My childminder is staying open for key workers. I am a key worker but because I've had to self isolate for two weeks I have lack of income and will be unable to pay her £400 up front for next month. I have a family member that can look after her from now on. I can give her 4 weeks notice now but I would still have to pay the fees for next month. She is also not taking my government funding for half term which is why I cannot afford it after having to be in isolation. I don't know what to do because if I do not pay her I'll be in breech of the contact.

Why isn’t she taking the gov funding? I would have thought you were only potentially liable for the top up amount over the notice period?

The government have said they will pay funding even if child dosent attend. Ask you la to be sure...then offer only the contracted top up rate.

She won't find the half term which is two weeks. She won't accept government funding for those two weeks. So I have to pay full price and then the other weeks I pay the top up fee

If you use your full entitlement ...15 or 30 hours in term time you've used all your funding she cant claim for it....so it not that she wont she cant.

Ah yes agree, it’s not won’t, it’s can’t.

I haven't used full entitlement. I only use 21 hours term time, she just won't accept funding for half terms.

The funding is term-time only so it doesn't pay half terms or school holidays.

If you use 21 hours term time, that's all you're entitled to.

The funding isn't meant to cover holidays. What would you have done, outside of the current pandemic, if you had to take two weeks off work for a regular illness? Presumably you'd be in the same boat?

Most reasonable childminders stretch the term time funding over the year

My funding is done term time only, so I would also be charging full during holidays.

“Most reasonable childminders stretch the term time funding over the year”

Nothing reasonable or unreasonable about it

Some children do term time only, some childminders do term time only.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted.
Where do you get reasonableness from? When we decide how to offer funding the funding we work out what we can afford. For some that's shorter days like 6 hours a day for others its term time only....which is easier to administer as the government system is set up for term time only and also has less errors in payment.

You get paid the entire term upfront - it's a pretty good deal from a parents point of view

Most childminders I know stretch it over 52 weeks to that they have a consistent income rather than up and down term time/holidays

You dont get paid that way in all authorities ours pays monthly.
Yes it's a good deal for parents not so for providers who get paid up to £2 less per hour per child...this is why they make their own choice as to how to provide the hours. The provider portal is designed for schools so works on terms. To stretch it you have to put in the reduced hours then the term weeks are fixed to 12 or 13 weeks you then have to put in notes that you want it stretched and trust its picked up if it isnt you get underpaid and have to wait a few months for corrections if you e been short paid a couple of hundred pounds a couple of times for 2 or 3 months you might not want to do it again.
Some Las have now amended the system so we can alter the weeks but not all

As Jannier said - we don't get the whole term up front and mistakes are less likely to be made in payments if we stick to school terms, so that is what I do.

Yes, well, all well and good for the childminders you know. I'm sure it works for them.

It doesn't work for all parents nor all childminders and each LA is different.