Can a nursery limit the number of funded hours that can be used per day?

[Confusedaboutchildcare]

Our child has been attending nursery 3 days per week, term time only, which works out as 10 hours per day. We're entitled to 30 "free" (funded) hours so we have only been paying for consumables / food since the funding entitlement kicked in.

The nursery has now advised that they will only be allowing you to use 7.5 funded hours per day. I know that nurseries are horribly underfunded and that they are in a difficult position financially, but obviously this is a huge uplift per month.

Our child is very settled at this nursery so we're reluctant to look for alternative provision.

I would be grateful for any advice regarding whether the nursery is entitled to limit the use of funded hours in this way.

Its quite normal. Even school nurseries do it.

(For example... at DDs school the funded sessions are 8.45- 11.45 and 12.30-3.30. Breakfast club, lunch and after school club are charged separately.)

Yes I believe they are. some even insist on 6 hours a day max so you can only use 30 hours if they go full time.

Each setting can decide how they wish to deliver the funded hours. Part of the funding agreement they have with the local authority is that the setting has made the terms of receiving those free hours clear in communication to parents & on the website.

Yes of course they can. If they just allow everyone to pick and choose how they use their funding it would be chaos.

Yes that’s pretty normal. I think them allowing 10 hours per day previously was the rarer situation really. Many will offer a morning session and an afternoon session.

Six hours a day was more common when mine were little - to be used in blocks of 3 hours eg morning and afternoon. Otherwise it was a nightmare to administrate.

The 30 free hours covers a full time place for 10 3 hour sessions in a term time nursery.

I think it still ran the same in the place we paid 51 weeks a year 8-6pm, 30 hours were taken off each term time week and then we paid the balance divided over 12 months.

Almost all the settings here do that I’m afraid. It’s the only way they make it viable.

Our previous setting was funded 8.30-11.30 and 1-4. It was open 7.30-6 but 7.30-8.30, 11.30-1 and 4-6 had to be paid for. So you couldn’t send them for 30hrs term time without having to pick them up at lunchtime or pay additional hours. It was £18 a day for meals and consumables plus the hourly rate. So a 8.30- 4 day still cost £27

You’ve done very well to have got this far getting 3 ten hour days funded with just a charge for consumables - I was in nursery management when the 30 hours first kicked in and we never allowed for this, we did similar to above (our sessions were 9-12 / 1-4 for funding, then you could add in breakfast from 7 or 8am, lunch hour and tea until 6. So you could come funded only, but only in those hours).

In fact I remember attending alliance meetings with other settings and there wasn’t a single one that was allowing a ten hour day with no charge!

The funding is technically for early years education. So in a sense, they allow funding for the education time and charge for the child care element (ie outside school hours).

I’m not familiar with how child minders offer it.

Some settings won’t even spread it across the year, so if you attend all year round, you pay full whack in school holidays so your monthly outgoings will vary every month.

Sadly you are correct - it’s down to funding. It’s not funded adequately at all, and the fact that your nursery allowed you, and I’m guessing other parents, to be fully funded minus consumables was clearly a tactic that hasn’t worked and therefore to avoid going bust they are having to change it. All early years settings will have a clause about reserving the right to withdraw from the funding scheme at any time - in reality they don’t have to allow the 15 or 30 at all! (But they wouldn’t get any children).

Tough I know - but if you need a day nursery, not 9-3, I think you will struggle to find fully funded. You’re going to have to just look at their new pricing structure and see what you can do.

Yes. It's the only way they can afford to do it. I'd stick with it and pay for the in-between/extra hours.

Thanks all. I guess we have just been lucky so far. It's tricky to reorganise budgets with so little notice but I think we have no choice but to stick with it!

I think they are allowed to offer a max of 10hrs per day but most will have core hours they apply funding to and charge for the wrap around part of the day. Each nursery will vary in how they chose to offer it and whether they allow it to be stretched over the year (think it’s around 22hr a week rather than 30 if stretched).

Yeah won't be long till school so this is the worst financially