Please please please don't start harassing your childcare provider about this funding change today

[BernadetteIsMySister]

We know nothing. We have no idea how this will work, what the government are actually offering, how much they will pay and whether we will even be taking part in the scheme (we don't have to!).

I've seen posts already this morning saying they are going to email their nursery manager, finding out how to persuade their childminder to start accepting funding, asking when this will all start etc etc

We don't know.

This will be the nail in the coffin for many settings, please don't start harassing them for details when they will have enough to do today trying to find out how much this will affect them and their business.

Yes

It's not a legal requirement that they must offer it to the majority of children (I think there are a few exceptions like looked after children but that's it)

would have found a different setting than forgo the 30 free hours allowance let alone if this was extended.

I found though that many childminders in an area just banded together and all refused so there was no different settings a parent could go to

In a city with lots of providers you could look elsewhere but many rural areas or towns the providers set the rules of the game

So just to clarify the notice period, if someone just decides to leave me know, I'm not out of pocket as i charge in advance. No pay, no play.

However with funding they will only pay up until the last day of care and this is worse if they leave before headcount day as then you don't get paid for any of the days in the term, even if they attended for the first 2/3 weeks!

I can’t see how nurseries will be able to offer it. The government contribution is only a tiny part of the overall cost - much less than the minimum wage. All that will happen will be more nurseries closing.

And it's these nuances to the system that parents don't see and don't understand why providers have issues. When you've dealt with dozens of claims and seen the issues we do then you can understand why we aren't jumping for joy.

Although I am delighted this has been kicked down the road. Some parents were getting a bit ahead of themselves.

I’ve seen the multiple threads on here with people panicking and gloom mongering, screaming the industry will shut down it will be awful etc, and before there is even any detail about it released. So I hear you op. It’s all over this forum too.

the reality is the government understands the scale of this change and as such it’s a phased introduction over a period of time with a year before the first swathe so childcare providers can prepare and do so in a scaling up manner .

On one side we’ve those demanding it now,and on the other extreme we’ve folks running round their living rooms with their pants on their head screaming rhe industry will shut down.

you couldn’t even make it up

Some parents were getting a bit ahead of themselves.

Yeah god forbid people struggling to make ends meet may have seen it as a bit of hope. I think you're taking your frustrations out on the wrong people. The government have screwed providers over for the past however many years, not parents paying thousands for childcare. Let's hope you're less condescending and less full of disdain for parents in real life eh.

Typical mumsnet really. Meanwhile provider's here have never made a big song and dance about it- they've calculated how to implement the 30 hours and what things they'll charge for and how much and it's take it or leave it. I suspect many settings don't have anyone with the financial acumen to figure it out.

It’s not her fault. She isn’t wrong and you know it. So being mean to her is just shitty.

Parents getting ahead of themselves is condescending, I'm not sure what isn't the posters fault- presumably they didn't have to post it on here?

Haha @TiredandLate was about to say the same about furlough, I’m a payroll manager and we found out the exact same time as everyone else and my god the influx the same night of emails!

I find it odd watching people jump on these kind of updates, like the furlough and lockdown announcement. Surely basic logic tells you that if it hasn't even been officially announced the no one will have the details, and that even after it's officially announced there will need to be an implementation period.

There's a couple of people on a BBC news story saying how unfair it is that it isn't starting straight away and asking why. Well that's bloody obvious isn't it, the technology systems that check for eligibility need to be updated, the childcare providers need to have time to ensure they have suitable staffing, new childcare providers will need to start businesses to cope with the demand, guidelines and legislations related to ratios will need to be updated and made public. None of this can happen overnight, it's months worth of work.

Asking providers before it's even been announced is getting ahead of yourself! Just chill. Nothing was going to happen this week or even this month was it? I was guessing September this year but not going to lie, I'm relieved it's next April as I would like to put together a thoughtful and considered business plan.

Messaging nursery managers and childminders this morning was unnecessary however unreasonable you think I am. You can't possibly think we would have had any information today bearing in mind it was only properly announced at 1pm.

Agree - had 1st parent ask me this morning at 8am for her 7month old baby - were in Scotland it doesn't even affect us!

I work in the NHS. This reminds me of the Covid saga after Boris' announcements. Next day we had 100's of calls asking us how it's going to work, what happens next etc. we had absolutely no idea and only found out what was happening when everyone else was finding out.

I think they are increasing the level of funding .

30 hours of free childcare for every child over the age of 9 months with working parents by September 2025, where eligibility will match the existing 3-4 year-old 30 hours offer.
This will be introduced in phases, with 15 hours of free childcare for working parents of 2-year-olds coming into effect in April 2024 and 15 hours of free childcare for working parents of 9 months – 3 years old in September 2024.
The funding paid to nurseries for the existing free hours offers will also be increased by £204 million from this September rising to £288 million next year.
Schools and local authorities will be funded to increase the supply of wraparound care, so that parents of school age children can drop their children off between 8am and 6pm – tackling the barriers to working caused by limited availability of wraparound care.
Childcare costs of parents moving into work or increasing their hours on Universal Credit paid upfront rather than in arrears, with maximum claim boosted to £951 for one child and £1,630 for two children – an increase of around 50%.

Wow!
I'd like to assume a childcare provider would have more empathy for struggling families wanting to know when they're going to get a little bit of extra help.
The amount of time spent moaning on this thread could have easily been used by the OP to write a blanket email / app update so parents don't need to bother nursery staff at all.

It's like becoming government contractors forced to accept the pay offered under the conditions offered or no work....without the benefits of being an employee. Or getting minimum wage.

It's like the lockdown announcement messages coming in as he was speaking like we had some insider knowledge

Or parents could just have some patience? Nobody is incapable of waiting 24 hours, nothing is going to change that quickly that you can't just chill and wait until we actually have some info to give? Genuinely, what information do you think we had available at 8am this morning to give parents?

The people who put together the budget down have a clue on what's involved or how it works they just come out with a sound bite the practical side is irrelevant as long as it's good PR

Our nursery sent a message via the app yesterday when it started to appear in the media to rest assured they would send any updates as and when they have them but for now they know as much as we do! I'm sure one or two might have still asked, but a pro active message which took under a min to send I expect surely saved them a lot of work. Perhaps other settings could look to do this in the future?

I do think there are some valid reasons for the industry to be unhappy....
Funding levels are already underfunded by 50% of the amount the government's own advisors proposed as being what would give sustainability when it was first proposed, since then we have had inflation etc making it worse. We already have record numbers of closures across the sector.
To provide free care to 100% plus more children and make setting something stainable they would need to put in 300% more than they do now but that hasn't been mentioned instead it's back to increase the ratios. So more work for not enough money in an industry already losing staff to supermarkets where wages are higher work is easier and no worries about a child dying on your watch because you have too many to supervise and no educational or fun element it's all nappies feeding and keeping them alive.

Did you call your employer the moment minimum wages changed to see what that meant for you? Same when NI changed. Did you call your energy supplier to check you would get your £64 on the same day now it's been extended?
The op raised the thread to help all providers who were in the main trying to care for children as even managers are doing that with the staffing shortages. Where is the empathy for the owners who are often working two jobs at the moment taking nothing out of nursery to keep it afloat?