Charging funded children for meals but not non funded children

[Hannahlong]

I’m very confused! And I’ve read so many helpful posts on mumsnet, I thought you ladies could help me out on this one :)

The nursery my son goes to charges funded children for meals and snacks, but children who aren’t funded have to pay. I found a section in their prospectus and fees, that states meals and snacks are included in the fees, this is dating back to 2016 though so maybe they changed the policy? Although I’ve always had to pay roughly £40 a month for his meals and snacks.

We do have the option for taking a packed lunch but my son enjoys eating the same as everyone else and I don’t want to strip that from him!

Please someone tell me if this is allowed??

Yep its pretty standard. The non funded children's parents are paying an absolute fortune whilst the funding doesn't cover their usual fees never mind food.

I would imagine it’s because the funding covers the care not the food. People that pay the whole lot will pay more for their space than the nursery will receive from the funded places (so they are being charged but it’s included in the price)

Yes I'm sure they can charge for meals and snacks.

Yes, it's always been standard that the funding is for the education, not for food. Non-funded children are paying for food as part of their fees so it's not true to say that funded children are charged for food while non-funded children aren't.

Funding is for early years education, not early years meals.

Fees include the price of the meals etc.

Put it this way

Unfunded children pay £50 a day
Funded children have £43 funding plus parents pay £7 for meals. Same cost in total.

(Just example figures)

The nursery receives around £5ph per child, I think, in funding. That funding is for education.

The parents who pay will be paying anything up to £100per day (rates in my area of London) so there is a huge gap.

For the business to run they need to pay for the other essential extras, so it is common to charge for food, sometimes for nappies, trips out etc

Taken from my local authority's user agreement for funded care....

"Government funding is intended to cover the cost to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of funded, high quality, flexible childcare. It is not intended to cover the cost of meals, consumables, additional hours or additional services.

"The provider can charge for meals and snacks as part of a funded entitlement place and they can also charge for consumables such as nappies or sun cream and for services such as trips....." etc.

There is a wide regional variation in how much the government pays for funded children. The £5ph quoted by a PP is almost certainly a London borough. In most cases, barely £4ph is nearer the mark, and some LAs pay less than £4. My own LA has reduced the amount it pays, despite the fact that the cost of providing childcare continues to rise.

The one thing you can rely on is that funded care does not cover the cost of provision. On average, a nursery will lose about £1000pa foreach funded child.

Like the others have said, yes it is allowed.

The funding from the Government doesn't match what the care actually costs. The 30 hours "free" childcare has caused lots of nurseries to go under so most will recoup costs where they can.