Faced with growing numbers of enquiries from providers and parents aboutthe current 12.5 hour per week funding, the council wrote to theDepartment for Children, Schools and Families for clarification.
The council was told that nurseries must not charge, for example, if aparent chose to take their entitlement in three-hour blocks over threedays because this would be less than 12.5 hours a week.
In a letter to providers, Kent council said this will mean 'significantand difficult change' for some nurseries. For example, in this scenario,the nursery cannot charge for half an hour a day, as the child isattending for only nine hours a week.
The letter goes on to say, 'The Code and DfES clarification are clear.Parents can only be charged for any hours their children attend above12.5, irrespective of the sessional configuration.'
But the council has decided to delay introducing funding by the hour togive nurseries time to adjust. Nursery owners said this highlights theconfusion that still surrounds the Code of Practice.
Darrell King of the Old School House Nursery in Headcorn, Kent, toldNursery World that this showed that the Code was still open tomisinterpretation by local authorities and providers.
She said, 'It minimises the opportunity for us to charge anythingoutside of the funding time.'
Kent providers have also queried what extra services they would be ableto charge parents for if they do not take the full NEG entitlement.
Ms King said that nurseries should be able to charge for specialistservices they offer, such as music tuition, in the same way that pupilsin maintained schools would pay for a violin lesson during schoolhours.
'On that basis, why can't we charge?' She added that not to offerspecialist services, such as music or dance would restrict parentalchoice.
