Parents of nursery children in England report paying additional charges to access government-funded free childcare hours. Eligible working parents can receive 30 hours a week for children aged nine months to four years, but some families say they are asked to pay more through waiting-list deposits, compulsory add-ons, and extra hours. A survey of parents using formal childcare found nearly three-quarters paid for extras such as meals, drinks, snacks, nappies, and sun cream, plus one-off activities like special outings. Campaigners say the charges reflect underfunding and cross-subsidy pressures on childcare providers, with some parents reporting thousands of pounds per year in additional costs.
"Parents of nursery children in England are being charged extra fees to cover for government underfunding of free childcare hours, with some paying thousands of pounds a year for consumables such as food, wipes and nappies, campaigners have said. The comments came as the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, asked the competition watchdog to investigate hidden extra charges that parents have encountered when trying to access government-funded childcare."
"Eligible working parents in England can get 30 hours a week of free childcare for children aged between nine months and four years old. But the Department for Education (DfE) has said too many parents have reported being asked to pay more to secure a funded place, including on waiting-list deposits, compulsory add-ons and additional hours."
"According to a survey conducted in May and June last year, nearly three-quarters of parents whose children were attending formal childcare reported having to pay for extras, including covering meals, drinks, snacks, nappies and sun cream, as well as one-off activities such as special outings. It's a cross-subsidy, Neil Leitch, the chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, an educational charity, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday, as he sought to illustrate the scale of the problem for childcare providers and the extent to which some were passing it on to parents."
"According to one parent, Rick Kelsey, writing in the Times last year, as much as 16 a day amounting to thousands of pounds a year for a child in nursery full-time was being charged on top of the standard fees. I would love to see a toddler eat 16-worth of chicken nuggets and Babybel cheese before pickup, Kelsey said. Referring to the article, Leitch acknowledged it was not 16 per lunch. This is a cross-subsidy, basically."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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