Parents of nursery children in England are being asked to pay extra fees on top of government-funded childcare hours, with some saying the add-ons run to thousands of pounds a year. Ministers have now asked the competition watchdog to investigate the hidden charges that families say they encounter when trying to use their entitlement.
Eligible working parents in England can get 30 hours a week of free childcare for children aged between nine months and four years old, but the headline offer is not always the price families end up paying. Bridget Phillipson said on Monday that “too many parents are still not feeling the full benefit,” after the Department for Education said parents had reported being asked to pay waiting-list deposits, compulsory extras and additional hours to secure funded places.
The scale of the problem is laid out in the numbers that keep surfacing. A survey carried out in May and June last year found nearly three-quarters of parents whose children were in formal childcare reported paying for extras, including meals, drinks, snacks, nappies and sun cream, as well as one-off outings. An Ipsos poll of 2,000 parents of children up to four years old last summer found more than a quarter said childcare cost was the main barrier to getting their preferred option.
Neil Leitch, speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, said the extra charges amounted to a cross-subsidy. Rick Kelsey, writing last year, said some families were being charged as much as £16 a day on top of standard fees. He said: “I would love to see a toddler eat £16-worth of chicken nuggets and Babybel cheese before pickup.”
That complaint goes to the heart of how the system is working in practice. The funding is meant to help families access childcare, but providers say the money they receive does not always cover the full cost of food, supplies and staffing for the hours they offer, leaving parents to fill the gap through fees that are not always obvious at the point of sign-up.
Phillipson said the watchdog should look at the impact of the charges on both parents and providers. In a separate statement, she said: “The vast majority of nurseries and childminders are doing a brilliant job – but we have to ask hard questions every time we hear stories of families hit with hidden charges, restricted hours or excessive deposits that bear no relation to what parents are actually paying. That is not what this investment was meant to deliver.”
The Competition and Markets Authority said it welcomed the request from the education secretary to carry out a review into the early years childcare sector. A spokesperson said: “We welcome the request from the education secretary to carry out a review into the early years childcare sector.”
The government has also launched a digital map of providers in Bristol, south Gloucestershire, Bath and north-east Somerset, with a countrywide rollout planned later in the year. The map is intended to make childcare easier to find, but the immediate question is whether families will see the promised support in their bills as well as on paper. For many parents, that answer will decide whether the policy feels like relief or just a more expensive version of the same struggle.
