Nursery fees

[Mamaof1x]

Hiya, just wanted advice really. I'm a mum of one, currently can't work because of lack of childcare in my area / no family support and desperate to get back into work asap.

My son goes to nursery 1pm-6pm twice a week. (10hrs) he should be getting 15 hours a week funded however the nursery is open even on school holidays so, stretched through the year I can only have 10hrs funded. They charge me an additional £12.70 per session, to cover things like nappies, wipes, food. He no longer uses nappies etc but he has an evening meal there and one snack. End of the month my bill is around £87. Can I claim this amount back via UC or child benefit? Just wanted some advice on that. And no rude comments please - I'm doing my best here. Dad isn't involved. Many thanks!

Do you not get your child benefit each month? If not you should be so look into that.

You can’t claim it back on UC if you’re not working no, if you were working then you’d be able to claim a % of the nursery costs from UC.

You should definitely be getting child benefit so apply for that asap!

You won't get UC or tax free childcare until you're working.
A childminder would probably be cheaper.

With stretched funding your actually entitled to 11 hours per week so might be work asking about that

I’d also be asking for a breakdown of the additional fees so you know exactly what you are paying for too sadly the government don’t pay enough for 3 and 4 year olds to cover the costs of looking after them so nursery’s and childminders are forced to ask for top up fees