Early years funding in a private nursery

alwaysbrassic

I had a real issue when my daughter received free funding.
She attends nursery one morning per week (5 hours)which cost us almost £80 per month. When she got free funding I was told she would receive 5 hours per week funded for 38 weeks of the year which amounted to a price reduction of just £20 per month!(£57)
This didn't add up to me so I rang the nursery who explained that they had a policy of reducing the cost by just under £6 per session for funding.
Feeling that this still didnt add up, I contacted
my local council, who explained that the discount should equate to the hourly cost of nursery, although the nursery could charge a reasonable amount for breakfast and lunch.
Long story not told short, after the council spoke to the nursery, my bill was reduced to £27 per month! Not much difference!!

onlyroz

Well it seems like it's all changed since my son was 3 (he's now 6) - back then there was a flat deduction of £140 (ish) from the bill. At the moment my daughter is 2 (turns 3 in december) and we are charged £1000 pcm for 50 hours a week. She's at the same nursery that my son used to go to. I don't think it's as simple as saying that 15 of those hours will be free from January. I'll ask them on Monday, but I'll be disappointed if the reduction is smaller now, for my daughter, than it was for my son...

onlyroz

go_cat wrote: »

Just re read your question ... think your asking the price of the 15hrs???

My nursery gave me a set amount which was deducted off my monthly bill depending if it was a 4 week / 5 week month and term time

Was this recently though? Because I think the rules changed in April.

bigmomma051204

onlyroz wrote: »

Well it seems like it's all changed since my son was 3 (he's now 6) - back then there was a flat deduction of £140 (ish) from the bill. At the moment my daughter is 2 (turns 3 in december) and we are charged £1000 pcm for 50 hours a week. She's at the same nursery that my son used to go to. I don't think it's as simple as saying that 15 of those hours will be free from January. I'll ask them on Monday, but I'll be disappointed if the reduction is smaller now, for my daughter, than it was for my son...

Okay. Again. You get 15 hours free. So you didnt have an amount deducted as such, you were given 15 hours FREE hence your bill went down. I would imagine the only reason you notice a difference in the price taken off your monthly invoice now compared to 3 years ago is because the nursery will have probably increased their fees over the years. My little boy is 6. He got 3 year funding the same time as yours did. He got 15 hours free. We swapped nurseries half way through the time he was funded... the new nursery was more expensive. So therefore although he did the same hours as the old nursery and got FIFTEEN hours a week free, it cost me more cos the nursery cost more.

:cool:

bigmomma051204

Oh and also dont forget that the funding runs TERMLY. Good private day nurseries (ones that are NOT termly) will spread the cost over the whole year so that you dont get stung with a massive bill during the holidays. This can sometimes confuse parents who think their bill is bigger than it should be - it is simply spreading the cost. Not charging you more.

AnnaLicious_2

As some of you have said you've been charged, please check to see what you're being charged for. You get 15 hours free across the school term. Are you being charged for meals or school holidays? You do have the right to only attend for your free sessions. Also, if you attend 2 seperate settings for more than 15 hours, the LA will decide who gets the EYE entitlement and what portion.

If you feel you are being charged top-up fees, contact your council. A good LA will pull *all* the EYE funding from that nursery. And it does happen!

The LA I work for, as do most, require signed headcount forms from nurseries. They then follow it up with spot check audits on their registers *and* on the invoicing to parents. The childcare provider has been paid for the 15 hours, and they signed a contract with the LA. They can't hit you up for more money.

go_cat

onlyroz wrote: »

Was this recently though? Because I think the rules changed in April.

yes up til July when my DS educational funding finished

bigmomma051204

Nothing has changed since April. Every child is entitled to FIFTEEN free hours of early years funding at 3years. You need to just ASK your childcare providers to explain their invoices to you so you can see how much they are deducting from you bill (if your child does more than the 15hours). :cool:

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I got £240 rebate for 9 months a year. Child went 5 days a week full time.