How much does a childminder get for funded hours?

[Mrschristmasqueen]

Can anyone please tell me how much a childminder gets per hours when they claim for the government funded places. Does it vary on area or is it a set amount? My childminder charges £4.50 an hour but is asking us for more money as she says the funding we get for my daughter doesn't cover her hourly rate. If she really is struggling I don't mind paying her more as she is brilliant and our daughter loves her. But I don't want to be taken for a ride if the funding does cover her hourly rate. She isn't putting the hourly rate up for everyone else, my daughter is the only child using free hours (we use half at school nursery then half with the childminder) so she is the only one she is asking for more money for. Thanks in advance.

Ot doesn’t matter if she is struggling.

If her hour rate is above what the government pays per hour, you pay her as per her rate or find a cheaper one.

It not Ot, obvs.

I’m not sure but we also top up to an hourly rate of £5,50 because the funding doesn’t go anywhere near it. Happy to do that

It seems a shame that you jump from loving your childminder and her being brilliant with your daughter to assuming she's taking you for a ride. She can put her rates up anytime across the board if she wants more money, why would she lie and just try and con you?

I remember a local nursery trying to campaign about the government funding and how low it was.
I think it was about £3.60 an hour.
Piss take really considering anyone earning up to 100,000 can get it.

It varies by area but this gives the amount the government gives the local authority per hour. LAs have an element of discretion and so your childminder may not receive what is listed here. For the exact amount you’d need to contact your LA.

www.eyalliance.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-21_early_years_funding_rates_early_years_alliance_summary_final.pdf

The government do chronically underfund childcare - they even ignored their own reports on the costs. Please do top up

It's such a shame that people think it's greedy for childcarers to want to earn a profit (ie an income!) from their job. Why should the cut off be 'struggling'. Awful way to be looking at those we trust our children to.

I think it Varys between each local authority but a quick google should tell you. It’s clear it’s not enough though.

I actually don’t think she’s allowed to charge top up fees, if the below applies to childminders as well as nurseries which from the council link it looks like it does. She can charge for extras like food but not a compulsory per hour additional charge.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55812645.amp

www.rbkc.gov.uk/kb5/rbkc/fis/advice.page?id=VHZuBdj28fA

www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/local-government-watchdog-warns-nurseries-over-top-up-fees-for-free-entitlement

But the government funding is not enough and I don’t think a lot of people realise just how big the gap is in some cases.

@Coughee

It seems a shame that you jump from loving your childminder and her being brilliant with your daughter to assuming she's taking you for a ride. She can put her rates up anytime across the board if she wants more money, why would she lie and just try and con you?

Please tell me where I've said she is putting her rates up. She isn't.

@DGFB

I’m not sure but we also top up to an hourly rate of £5,50 because the funding doesn’t go anywhere near it. Happy to do that

Thank you. I'm also happy to do it, just wanted to know if it was the norm and you've confirmed that it is.

In my area I get £1.60 under their usual hourly rate. They just can't afford to work for so little, if parents don't pay a contribution (under my LA they can charge it as long as it's a voluntary contribution) they may not be able to stay open.

Why do settings have to essentially fund other peoples childcare. If you look at it another way, she is paying towards looking after your daughter when she could take care of another child and not have to lose out financially.

Pay the extra otherwise you may not have a childminder as she may have to take a different child on or even close her doors permanently

@Coughee

It seems a shame that you jump from loving your childminder and her being brilliant with your daughter to assuming she's taking you for a ride. She can put her rates up anytime across the board if she wants more money, why would she lie and just try and con you?

Well surely it would be better for the CM to raise her price for all parents?

@Pinkspecs

I remember a local nursery trying to campaign about the government funding and how low it was. I think it was about £3.60 an hour. Piss take really considering anyone earning up to 100,000 can get it.

Thank you for that info. I agree, they don't earn enough but I'm new to this so wasn't sure how the hours worked.

You misunderstood my post. What I'm saying is she doesn't need to take you for a ride by pretending she doesn't get enough funding. She CAN just put her rates up across the board if she wanted to and was struggling. So why would she lie to you? It's surely more likely she's telling the truth, especially if it sounds like she's had a good relationship with you up til now.

You said in your OP “she isn’t putting the hourly rate up for anyone else”

Piggyk2 well that's a different question really. It's her business she can choose to make up the deficit however she wants. Her customers can choose to walk if they don't like it. If I was her I'd risk losing one customer rather than them all. Its a shame the government don't seem to pay enough though so parents and childcarers aren't put in this position.

It doesn't make sense to put the hourly rate up from on parent alone

You have jumped the gun who said OP is leaving her CM.. why are you assuming that. OP asked a question and rightly so because it's odd that the rates increase only for OP

My nursery charges £30 a day as the funding don't cover the fees

Most settings need the local authority’s hourly rate to be topped up somehow, be that through lunch charges or wraparound care charges. The mistake parents make is to believe that the care is free. It is not free, you will receive 15 or 30 funded hours for 38 weeks of the year. Nurseries/child minders can choose now that payment reduces your bill each month. It is very unusual to get an invoice for zero as everything is covered, unless you literally attend a school based nursery, 9-12, term time only.

Oh dear. I'm not jumping the gun. I'm assuming nothing. I'm looking at it from a childminders point of view. If I was faced with earning slightly less money because of funded hours how would I try and recover it? What would be the thing I'd worry most about if I put rates up across the board? Probably potentially losing customers over it. Therefore I'd probably come to the conclusion that it makes more sense to ask the one customer using those funded hours to cover the deficit. Anyway, this is all by the by really. The question the op was asking was whether her childminder was taking her for a ride. The point I was trying to make was 'why would she?'.

It's also worth noting that she's not asking the op to pay MORE than the other customers, she's asking her to top up the funded payment so she pays the SAME

Thank you for all the replies. I have my answer now and will happily pay her the top up.

@Foolsrule

Most settings need the local authority’s hourly rate to be topped up somehow, be that through lunch charges or wraparound care charges. The mistake parents make is to believe that the care is free. It is not free, you will receive 15 or 30 funded hours for 38 weeks of the year. Nurseries/child minders can choose now that payment reduces your bill each month. It is very unusual to get an invoice for zero as everything is covered, unless you literally attend a school based nursery, 9-12, term time only.

I pay her full the other weeks of the year that she doesn't receive her funding, I know how that works. I work in a school myself so pay her for school holidays to keep her place but she doesn't go then. I also pay her £2 per day for lunch and £4 per day to do pick up and drop off.