Provision must be offered within the national criteria on charging practices set out in paragraphs A1.31 to A1.44 of the Early Education and Childcare statutory guidance for local authorities.
Charging
12.1 Providers should adhere to the following terms, regardless of whether they charge any chargeable extras.
12.2 The provider can set their own models of delivery for the early years entitlements which meets the needs of parents/carers and does not artificially restrict parents from a funded place.
12.3 Providers should ensure the information available to parents is clear and transparent prior to offering a funded place, to support parents/carers make an informed choice of provider. The local authority does not encourage providers to charge families for a place that has previously been confirmed as funded, particularly in relation to families eligible for the early learning for 2-year-old funding.
12.4 Providers who choose to offer the early years’ entitlements are responsible for setting their own policy. Providers must offer reasonable alternatives that allow parents/carers to access the entitlements for free; including allowing parents/carers to supply their own, waiving the cost of these items or reducing the charge.
12.5 Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare. The 15 or 30 hours must be accessible free of charge to all parents/carers. There must not be any mandatory charges for parents/carers in relation to any of the funded hours delivered.
12.6 Government funding is not intended to cover the cost of meals, additional hours, additional services, or other consumables. Parents/carers must benefit financially from the early years’ entitlement funding.
12.7 Providers can charge parents/carers for the following extras in connection with the funded hours, provided that these charges are optional and are not a condition of accessing the early years entitlement hours:
- consumables to be used by the child, such as nappies or sun cream
- meals and snacks consumed by the child.
- extra optional activities such as trips, events, celebrations, specialist tuition (for example music classes or foreign languages) or other activities that are not directly related or necessary for the effective delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework
Providers can also charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions, provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing the early years entitlement hours a free place.
12.8 The provider should deliver the early years’ entitlements consistently so that all children accessing the early years’ entitlements will receive the same quality and access to provision, regardless of whether they choose to pay for additional hours, services, or meals. Providers can charge for extras; these charges must be voluntary for parents/carers in relation to the entitlement hours.
12.9 The provider cannot charge parents/carers “top-up” fees (any difference between a provider’s normal charge to parents/carers and the funding they receive from the local authority to deliver funded places).
12.10 Charges for additional hours and services not associated with the early years’ entitlement funded hours are a private matter between the provider and the parent. The local authority will not intervene where parents/carers choose to purchase additional hours of provision or additional services such as dance, music, or language tuition, providing that this does not affect the parent’s ability to take up their child’s funded place. The provider must be completely transparent about any additional charges and models of delivery.
12.11 Providers must support parents who wish to opt out of paying for chargeable extras, associated consumables or activities. Participation in any optional extra activity should be on the basis of parental choice and a willingness to meet the charges.
12.12 The provider can charge parents/carers a refundable deposit to secure their child’s funded place but must refund the deposit in full to parents/carers within a reasonable time scale, for example on their first invoice.
12.13 The provider must not charge an administration or registration fee to parents/carers who are accessing a funded place.
12.14 The provider may charge parents/carers a registration fee where they are accessing additional hours. The provider should be mindful of the impact of additional charges on parents/carers, specifically those in receipt of early years funding through an economic eligibility criteria. Providers should ensure that all charges are fair and transparent.
12.15 The provider must not charge parents/carers of children accessing the early years entitlements for consumables that are necessary for the effective delivery of childcare, including, but not limited to, craft materials, crayons, paper, books, instruments, toys, or other equipment or learning resources that are necessary for the effective delivery of childcare. As outlined in Appendix 4.
12.16 The provider must not charge parents/carers of children accessing the early years entitlements a service/administration charge to cover business costs eg on-line registers, accommodation, qualified teaching staff, staff training, learning journals etc.
12.17 The early entitlement hours must be free at the point of delivery, charges should not be applied to any unused funded entitlement hours. Providers can charge for meals, consumables, additional hours, or additional services. However, providers must be transparent about how such charges have been calculated.
12.18 Independent Schools should be mindful of the impact of additional charges on parents/carers. This may result in waiving the registration fee and uniform charges for funded children in nursery, pre-prep, and reception classes.
Transparency
12.19 The provider must ensure that a parental declaration form is completed and signed by the parent/carer and provider before the child first takes up their early years entitlement place, which sets out clearly the days and times when the child will take up their free hours. This will include any use of a stretched entitlement, as well as any charges for meals and consumables that the parent/carer has opted to pay for. It will also include the number of additional privately paid hours and the fees for those private hours. This is to ensure that both parties have full clarity about the number of entitlements hours being used, and what additional extras and subsequent charges have been agreed.
12.20 Providers caring for ten or more children at any one time should publish on their website, or where they do not have a website, on the local authority’s Families Information Service website, information for parents and prospective parents the provision of childcare in their area:
- admissions criteria (such as what age groups the provider takes, any priority for children with SEND or looked after children, and both how and when to apply for a place).
- the hours/sessions which can be taken as funded provision
- what optional extras are available to them
- the types of reasonable alternatives they have if they choose not to take up these extras
Any additional information should be made easily available to parents/carers upfront (to enable parents/carers to make an informed choice of provider) and to ensure they understand when they can access their child’s funded hours. Not all providers will be able to offer fully flexible places, but providers should work with parents/carers to ensure that as far as possible the pattern of hours are convenient for parents/carers’ working hours.
12.21 Providers caring for 10 or fewer children at any one time, there is not a requirement for the costs of chargeable extras to be published on a website. However, information must still be made available to parents/carers explaining what it looks like to access the entitlements at the setting.
12.22 The provider should ensure their invoices and receipts are clear, transparent, itemised and broken down separately, allowing parents/carers to see they have received their early years’ entitlement completely free of charge and understand that any fees paid are for additional hours or optional services. The provider must ensure that invoices and receipts contain their full details so they can be identified as being issued by a specific provider for the purposes of audits and any payments made in relation to Universal Credit.
Template invoices are attached to the Appendix 3 invoicing page.
12.23 Independent Schools offering the early years entitlements to eligible children in Reception Classes must show the funded hours as free on parent invoices.