Nurseries should receive extra funding
The cost for providing free childcare is costing nurseries hundreds even thousands of pounds. The cost given from the government doesn’t even cover the cost of a practitioner’s hourly rate. Where will this leave nurseries when the free entitlement is increased to 30hrs?
Nurseries keep hearing that there will be a pot of money ploughed into the early year’s sector but will this help those nurseries that are going to reach breaking point. Will the rise in the hourly rate be the same cross all counties as today the amounts vary from county to county, so how can a nursery even try to work out figures when they still don’t know the exact figures they will be receiving.
As the number of parents eligible has dropped there is still a significant amount of childcare places to find. Nurseries will not be able to offer these high quality places if this results in nurseries making a loss
More money needs to go straight to nurseries offering this childcare in order for nurseries to continue offering high quality childcare.
Looking at what is on offer looks great on paper but realistically this will cause many nurseries a financial strain. Nurseries agree it is a step forward to helping parents with childcare but something needs to be done to ensure nurseries are still able to offer a childcare service.
What the government are offering in the rise of funding to nurseries does however include the early years pupil premium, so if you take this away nurseries are back to receiving the same amount. At the moment nurseries are receiving the early year’s premium separate but this will change and be included in the hourly rate. Have the figures really been thought through?
Will nurseries see the pot of money as there is a danger that this will be fed through schools funding as a wider education budget leaving nurseries receiving very little.
After speaking to one nursery in the Midlands they said “Who would want to run a nursery business and know that straight away your business is going to make a loss, the amount given to nurseries should reflect the need for this childcare and the government should support nurseries in providing this service”
For nurseries this is a waiting game. Nurseries can only hope that their concerns are heard and something is done about this.