Nurseries in England charging extra fees to cover funding gap, campaigners say | Childcare
Parents of nursery-aged children in England are being charged extra fees to offset inadequate government funding of free childcare hours, with some paying thousands of pounds a year for supplies such as food, wipes and nappies, campaigners have said.
The comments came as education secretary Bridget Phillipson asked the pageant watchdog to investigate the hidden extra fees parents face when trying to access state-funded childcare.
Eligible working parents in England can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for their children aged nine months to four years.
But the Department for Education (DfE) said “too many” parents were being asked to pay more to secure a funded place, including waiting list deposits, compulsory add-ons and additional hours.
Nearly three-quarters of parents whose children attend formal childcare reported having to pay for extras, including meals, drinks, snacks, nappies and sunscreen, as well as one-off activities such as special trips, according to a survey conducted in May and June last year.
“It’s a cross-subsidy,” Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, an education charity, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Monday, seeking to illustrate the extent of the problem for childcare providers and the extent to which some are passing this on to parents.
According to parent Rick Kelsey writing in the Times last year, up to £16 a day was being charged on top of standard fees – equivalent to thousands of pounds a year for a full-time nursery child.
“I’d love to see a toddler eat £16 worth of chicken nuggets and Babybel cheese before it’s taken away,” Kelsey said. Referring to the article, Leitch acknowledged that it was “not £16 per lunch. Essentially it’s a cross-subsidy”.
Last summer, results of an Ipsos poll of 2,000 parents of children up to the age of four suggested that more than a quarter found the cost of childcare to be the “primary barrier” to accessing their preferred option.
Writing in the Guardian on Monday, Phillipson said “too many parents are still not feeling the full benefit of government-funded childcare hours”.
“The vast majority of nurseries and childminders do a fantastic job, but we have to ask tough questions every time we hear stories about families facing hidden costs, restricted opening hours or excessive deposits that have nothing to do with what parents actually pay. That was not the purpose of this investment.”
In his letter to the regulator, Phillipson asked for detailed information about the impact of the extra fees on parents and providers.
To make it easier for families to access childcare, the government has also recently launched a digital map of providers in Bristol, south Gloucestershire, Bath and north-east Somerset, which will be rolled out nationwide later in the year. The tool is available at: Best Start in Life website.
A Competition and Markets Authority spokesman said: “We welcome the education minister’s request for a review of the early childhood care sector.
“The CMA is monitoring developments and exploring the benefits of work in this area. This is an important sector that needs to work well for families and we will be developing a specific proposal to present to our board.”
