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Original poster

Nursery are threatening to remove my child as I questioned fees

468 replies

Girlmum1984 · 20/01/2025 14:29

My daughter turns 3 in a few weeks and we will be able to claim 30 free hours. When this happens, my consumables fee will increase from £12 a day to £29. have questioned this with management and asked for a breakdown of what this fee includes. They have listed food, nappies etc as well as a few activities (baking, PE classes, music classes). The activities listed take place twice month and so far haven’t been on the day that my child attends. All of this would never add up to £29 daily.

Unsatisfied with the response, I emailed the local council to understand how consumables fees can be issued to parents and it there were any regulations. As a result, they contacted the nursery manager and investigated. They were satisfied with the findings and basically said there are no regulations they need to follow when it comes to consumables fees and they can charge what they like. Annoying, but fine.
I have now had an official looking email from my nursery to say I have impacted the staffs mental health by making this enquiry and they are going to discuss whether our contact will be terminated as a result!
I’ve never had any issues with staff in the past and we’ve always been on friendly terms. My daughter enjoys the setting and the care they provide isn’t in question.

can they kick her out as their manager has an issue with me contacting the council about them? Thanks

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Dynamo101 · 20/01/2025 19:18

You really didn’t think this through did you?

What did you actually hope would happen, if the council had found there to be a problem, as you suspected, did you expect them to still welcome you back with open arms, and lower the fees to boot?

Hardly likely. You must have realised that your actions had the potential to jeopardise your relationship with the Nursery?

Crazyworldmum · 20/01/2025 19:21

FlyingHighFlyingLow · 20/01/2025 19:17

Heating, food, nappies etc all went up in cost astronomically.

Staff are paid basically NMW. That's gone up without corresponding increase in funding to cover it. Same with extra charges like NI, pension etc.

Can't overcharge younger children to cover shortfall anymore.

Will also depend on location. There are cheaper nurseries near me but you have to supply everything and the ratios are bigger and it's a couple of rooms in a church hall. My nursery is more expensive but better ratios, purpose built building, supply everything, each room own outdoor space, sensory gardens, play areas, lots of toys and equipment.

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Yes but is this in England only ? I mean my middle child was in nursery until recently using the 30 h free funding and we never had this . My youngest is about to start soon and the funding cover sit all but £7 a week not a day

SheilaFentiman · 20/01/2025 19:25

Nottodaythankyou123 · 20/01/2025 18:59

My understanding was that previously any losses were covered by under 3s paying full whack, whereas now it’s 9 months for 15 hours and from September for the full 30. There’s very few left then to cover the costs of far more spaces operating at a loss so it’s almost inevitable IMO.

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Exactly this.

SheilaFentiman · 20/01/2025 19:26

Crazyworldmum · 20/01/2025 19:21

Yes but is this in England only ? I mean my middle child was in nursery until recently using the 30 h free funding and we never had this . My youngest is about to start soon and the funding cover sit all but £7 a week not a day

Show quote history

It does depend a bit on area - my understanding is that Scottish funding is much closer to local commercial rates and the same may be true for parts of England.

Maplebean · 20/01/2025 19:28

SheilaFentiman · 20/01/2025 19:26

It does depend a bit on area - my understanding is that Scottish funding is much closer to local commercial rates and the same may be true for parts of England.

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I’m in Scotland and didn’t pay a penny from age 3-5. It was completely free full time Monday to Friday- school hours.

republicofjam · 20/01/2025 19:32

UncharteredWaters · 20/01/2025 18:06

Only on here would someone accept a x3 price increase without questioning it.

If they do evict your little girl I’d stick it all over Facebook…
questioned the x3 increase…apparently their mental health can’t cope…

why would the staff have a mental health response, they wouldn’t be involved in management complaints. Very nasty behaviour to say the staff have mental health concerns if they don’t.

if I was particularly vindictive I’d tag the staff and ask do they need time off for mental health?

Edited

They walk amongst us.

TickingAlongNicely · 20/01/2025 19:34

Maplebean · 20/01/2025 19:28

I’m in Scotland and didn’t pay a penny from age 3-5. It was completely free full time Monday to Friday- school hours.

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School based preschools are often similar in England, its the private day care nurseries with these issues

MummaMummaMumma · 20/01/2025 19:35

I don't think you were in the wrong.
That's a giant increase for 'consumables" they didn't give you a truthful answer, so you went above their head.
30 hours is supposed to be free. It was in my nursery and my kids only left a few years ago. I wasn't required to pay a penny - apart from suncream.

Stealthmodemama · 20/01/2025 19:36

Do you only attend term time? Do you pay the same amount all the time?

I know when my two were at nursery the hours were spread across a whole year so the 30 hours did not really cover that much time.

SheilaFentiman · 20/01/2025 19:39

MummaMummaMumma · 20/01/2025 19:35

I don't think you were in the wrong.
That's a giant increase for 'consumables" they didn't give you a truthful answer, so you went above their head.
30 hours is supposed to be free. It was in my nursery and my kids only left a few years ago. I wasn't required to pay a penny - apart from suncream.

A lot has changed in a few years, chiefly the wider age ranges eligible for funding, the increases in NMW and NIC and the cost of utilities (and interest, if the nursery building is funded by a mortgage)

Stealthmodemama · 20/01/2025 19:39

Just to add the ratio in a school is completely different.

  • For children aged three and over, the ratio is one adult to eight children
  • If a qualified teacher or someone with an approved level 6 qualification is present, the ratio for children aged three and over is one adult to 13 children

Personally this makes no sense for me - if you need to change nappies as a teacher, you still only have one pair of hands

Tisthedamnseason · 20/01/2025 19:41

They were satisfied with the findings and basically said there are no regulations they need to follow when it comes to consumables fees and they can charge what they like

But that's not true. Well, they can charge what they like but for the free hours these charges must be optional. That can affect your child eg you have to send in food rather than paying for it, or maybe they'll miss out on activities. But it must be possible to attend the free hours for free.

Shubbypubby · 20/01/2025 19:46

It would've been more prudent to have a look at what other nurseries in the area are charging to gauge whether the fee is "fair" or not. Snitching on them to the council was not the way to go.

BobbyBiscuits · 20/01/2025 19:46

@BurntBroccoli yeah, you're not wrong there. But as it stands those extra fees are unavoidable I think wherever you use for the 'free' hours.

Frapbap · 20/01/2025 19:47

Think OP has left the thread?

HellofromJohnCraven · 20/01/2025 19:47

I don't think you are unreasonable querying it. Dgd attends 3 days a week and the consumables charge is £10 per day for funded days and £2 per day non funded days.
This is a smallish private nursery. Given the competition for places I assume they charge enough to cover their costs.

Nottodaythankyou123 · 20/01/2025 19:48

BobbyBiscuits · 20/01/2025 19:46

@BurntBroccoli yeah, you're not wrong there. But as it stands those extra fees are unavoidable I think wherever you use for the 'free' hours.

Except pre-school attached to a school where they do generally tend to be free because you’ll usually take a packed lunch and they’re actually 30 hours a week because it’s term time only. Which then will obviously cause issues in holidays etc when there’s no coverage but they’re usually too young for holiday clubs etc

PurpleFlower1983 · 20/01/2025 19:52

Of course they can terminate your contract, they’re a private business. Questioning it is one thing but going to the council was OTT and I can see why they were annoyed to be honest.

Schoolchoicesucks · 20/01/2025 19:53

£30 a day for consumables isn't reasonable. But the nursery are stuck as either they charge such a fee to try and bridge the gap between government funding and how much it costs to provide nursery care, or they cut costs as much as they can until ultimately there is nothing left to cut and they are forced to close.
I don't think you were wrong to question it. This is not your fault or the nursery's fault. If they can fill your DC's space and think you might become problematic, they may well give you notice. If you are happy with the nursery, I would get in quick and apologise, explain you hadn't meant to cause an issue or investigation.

Schoolchoicesucks · 20/01/2025 19:57

Burntt · 20/01/2025 18:54

Technically they cannot enforce the charge it's a legal requirement. You should be able to send in nappies etc and meals and not have to pay tip up fees. To register to provide the funded hours they would have had to sign to agree to this.

I need to double check but I think arts and craft type stuff should be covered by the funding and they cannot charge top up for this.

It's shit that so many providers charge these top up fees. I remember when funded hours came in there was absolutely no charging it and providers lost the funding if they did. Now most everyone does it.

And yes childcare is low wages but the funding DOES cover the costs. It's just such a stretch when you have managers and owners taking a cut and not working in the rooms in ratio. You can have 4 children to an adult and area depending that's £22 an hour coming in- the workers don't get that much.

I'm a childminder and never charge the top up fees it's immoral I think as excludes the families without the means to pay it and goes against the whole initial point of funded hours which is education for all and particular help for those in poverty.

But the £22 has to cover insurance at least as well as food, nappies, art, craft materials, replacement toys if they are not charging this on. In a nursery there would be rent, electricity, gas, employment costs (pension, employer national insurance). And if it is a large setting there will be overheads like management, head office etc.

jannier · 20/01/2025 20:00

JimHalpertsWife · 20/01/2025 15:35

£29 for consumables that previously they charged £12 for? I get they need to fund the place but the same goods and services costing 2.5 times as much?

In my area 2 year funding is almost twice 3 year funding, and 3 year olds use more stuff like paint and eat more.

FrannyScraps · 20/01/2025 20:00

@Girlmum1984 may we assume you aren't coming back?

jannier · 20/01/2025 20:01

Marylou2 · 20/01/2025 15:46

Pretty sure when my DD was at nursery on funded hours that these were called top up fees and the reason given for them was very transparent. This helps so much. Consumables sounds so vague particularly when 3/4 year old often aren't wearing nappies etc. I'd pop in and apologise and emphasise the your child loves the nursery and shouldn't suffer due to the misunderstanding.

Your not allowed to call it top up

jannier · 20/01/2025 20:08

Legodaisy · 20/01/2025 16:02

It is meant to be free. It is called “30 free hours”. It’s not called “30 discounted hours”. The government need to update all the verbiage on their website if it’s not meant to be free.

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The conservatives sold us free childcare so wouldn't change it the labour government already have changed it to funded and it says about charges.

Nursery are threatening to remove my child as I questioned fees
MamaorBruh · 20/01/2025 20:12

How did the nursery know it was you specifically who contacted the council as surely they shouldn't have mentioned you due to GDPR?
I can understand it's frustrating as the government make a big deal about "free hours" when in reality it's now costing you close to £30 a day.
However, when my 2 were at Nursery not so long ago, we only got 15 "free" hours for the last year of the 2nd child!
So paid full fees for both, which meant we had much less money left over than I would have if they were going now. I.hope they don't terminate your contract as that will be annoying - I'd also be worried about my relationship a with the staff going forward.

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