Funded pre-school places are still up in the air
Catherine Gaunt
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The fate of up to 1,000 funded places for three- and four-year-olds remains uncertain after pre-schools in Buckinghamshire said they still do not know if they will be able to charge for extra services to parents who use less than their 15-hour free entitlement.
As Nursery World revealed last month, pre-schools in the South Bucks Nursery Forum say they cannot remain sustainable without more funding when the free entitlement is extended to 15 hours in September because the rate of £3.75 an hour will not cover the cost of the places (News, 11 February).
Tom Hackwood, who runs Stepping Stones Pre-School in Amersham, said that the group had received a response from Buckinghamshire County Council but the reply was ambiguous.
'We have been told we are allowed to charge for additional services, but we are not sure what this covers,' he said.
'The big question is whether we can charge for additional services within the first 15 hours.'
The council have told Mr Hackwood that in their consultation response to the DCSF they asked for clarification to some parts of the Code of Practice, as it is contradictory in places.
The final Code of Practice is not yet published but is due to be in place by September.
'In the meantime, parents at our nurseries want to know whether or not we'll be withdrawing from the funding, which of course we can only decide upon when we know what we can or can't do,' said Mr Hackwood. 'We really cannot wait until the final Code of Practice, whenever that may be.'
In a letter to the forum, the divisional director for commissioning, Chris Munday, said, 'You state in your letter that your parents are willing to pay an additional fee for the free entitlement. Clearly this is not acceptable under the Code, but providers may charge for additional services and it is for the provider to decide what level of charge is appropriate to support their business needs. Providing your billing arrangements show any additional charges relate to additional services, this is acceptable.'
He added that it would be 'very regretful' if providers felt they had to pull out of the scheme. 'Should it not be possible to attract new providers into the market, ultimately the LA could find itself in a position where it has no alternative but to provide the places itself.'
