Free childcare?

[Sheree2000]

My daughters entitled to 15 hours a week of free childcare she’s currently in a nursery but they charge £78 a month which they said is to go towards nappies/food. I was just wondering if every nursery has an additional charge or if there’s some that genuinely offer the free childcare im entitled to? My mum was surprised the nursery charge me and said I should try and change nurserys as they don’t normally charge extra money but when I spoke to my friend about it she said nurserys still charge you even if you’re supposed to have free childcare…can anyone explain this to me as I’m unsure to why it’s called “free childcare” if you’re still having to pay. Thank you 🙂

The government claims it provides free childcare.

Actually the amount of money they pay per child per hour is not enough to cover the nurseries’ costs.

So every nursery I’ve ever heard of charges some kind of top up fee so that they can make ends meet.

Sometimes they charge for food or nappies, sometimes they say they’re offering “extra” music classes or something which you have to pay for, some offer the free hours at weird times of day (I heard of one that offered free hours from 11-1 and 2-3, so you had to collect your kid for that hour in the middle - or pay their normal hourly rate for them to stay there).

So I think it’s normal.

It’s “free” but nursery can ask for top ups for supplies and food.
it’s supposed to be a voluntary contribution but the nurseries will say you have to pay it.
the nursery my son goes to doesn’t charge on top but they ask for £1 a week towards snacks and the free hours are restricted to certain sessions.
my son isn’t old enough for funded hours yet but it will significantly reduce my bill

It’s normal. The amount the government pay doesn’t meet then nurseries costs.

IME school nurseries are often cheaper or free although I don’t know how much longer for!

The government only gives £4 per child which isn’t usually enough to have a nursery running at correct ratios etc

15 free hours is only for 38 weeks of the year. Are they stretching the funding so you have a monthly discount?

It's funded hours, not free.

Very normal IMO for them to charge a top up - I would personally be delighted with as little as that a month on top.

My DD nursery has a minimum number of days you have to attend. So it means you pay for one day per week at full price if you are entitled to the government's or local authorities 15 or 30 free hours in term time.

My nursery charges £17 a week for food/nappies/supplies etc, for everyone who uses 15 or 30 free hours. I don't begrudge it since I'm aware of the funding shortfall for those hours, and it's still a big saving on paying the regular rate. I'm also a little biased in that my ds eats so much better there than at home - I'm very grateful for the all the veg they get in him!!

It's pretty common as the government funding isn't enough. However, legally, the extra money for nappies and food has to be voluntary - you should be able to send in your own nappies and food and not pay.
Our nursery does not have any additional compulsory charges but we do pay for food (we choose to), and everyone has to send in their own nappies regardless of funding etc.

If you are using the 15 hours across 5 days so only at nursery for 3 hour periods, maybe you could suggest supplying your own nappies an putting a few in their school bag plus their own snacks. Not sure if it would be allowed but may be worth an ask

We have to provide nappies and food but still have to pay £40 excess per month to cover the gap in government funding and the cost to actually provide the service.