Nursery World - The ouch in vouchers

In response to 'Vouchers bring growth hopes for companies' (News, 22 September), I would like to draw Nursery World readers' attention to the problems we face with the sheer scale of this scheme. Nursery managers, who are already deluged with paperwork from every direction, now have the added problem of tracing the childcare voucher payments. These come in a variety of methods. For example, several families are now paying with two different voucher schemes and then make a balance payment with cash or cheque. The vouchers may have to be posted or redeemed over the telephone, unnecessarily taking up further time. Then each payment has to be traced through the banking systems to check that the money has been placed in the correct account.

The vouchers may have to be posted or redeemed over the telephone, unnecessarily taking up further time. Then each payment has to be traced through the banking systems to check that the money has been placed in the correct account.

Isn't it time for childcare managers to rebel at this continued extra work placed on an already overstretched workload? Perhaps the companies who are making this 60m turnover should pay a registration fee for each family who use the scheme, which may go part way towards the administrative time.

Valerie Edge, childcare manager of Henry's Kindergarten, Winchester

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