8.9 Neighbourhood Nursery Charging Policy - April 2010

This policy was significantly amended in January 2011. It needs to be read in its entirety.

Fees applied as of April 2010 are:

Full day care rate for 0 to 2 - £32.80
Half day care rate for 0 to 2 - £20.60
Full day care rate for 2 to 4 - £30.20
Half day care rate for 2 to 4 - £19.00

The level of fees is based on the following rationale. The average Wakefield costs for full day care for 0 to 2 year olds outlined in the 2008 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment was £31.48. An element for inflation of 2.1% was added in line with the increase of the Nursery Education Funding. The same rationale had been applied to the full day care for 3 to 4 year olds.

Standard Fees and Payment Policies

Charge for Wrap Around Care

There are circumstances where working parents require wrap around care for their children if, for example, children are attending school nurseries which do not open until 9am and which close at 3pm. In order to better meet families' needs whilst optimising use of staff, nurseries will charge an hourly rate for this wrap around care based on the half day sessional rate.

Wrap around rate for 0-2 - £20.60 ÷ 5 = £4.12
Wrap around rate for 2-4 - £19.00 ÷ 5 = £3.80

Holiday Retainer Fee

Parents are required to continue to pay fees should children take a holiday from nursery.

Hospital Appointments and Sickness Absence

In circumstances where a child has a chronic or long term disability which requires regular and frequent attendance at hospital parents should not be charged a retainer fee should their child be absent from nursery. This will be judged on a case by case basis at the discretion of Nursery Managers in consultation with their Early Years Area Managers. In circumstances where children are absent from nursery with short term childhood illnesses or infections, there will be no waiver of the fee.

Late Fees

Where parents arrive late to collect their, child this impacts on staffing costs with staff having to remain until collection. A charge of £5 per 15 minutes, or part thereof, will be applied to cover the cost of staffing.

Early Arrival

In most circumstances, the neighbourhood nurseries open their doors to children at 8am. There are occasions, however, when parents request the option of arriving at nursery from 7.45am. Requests are considered on a case by case basis. If staffing is sufficient to ensure the child's safety, and Ofsted staff-to-child ratios can be maintained, this provision will be considered. The charge for arrival - no earlier than 7.45am - is currently £2 per child to cover additional staffing costs.

Outstanding Debt

Parents are asked to pay nursery fees one month in advance. In the event of late payment of fees a £10 monthly charge is added. Outstanding fees of £200 or one month's fees are transferred to Sundry Debtors to follow up payment. Where debts exceed this level, the child's place may be withdrawn.

Deposits for places

In order to secure a place in nursery parents will be charged a deposit of one month's fees which will cover the first month when a place is taken up. Deposits are non returnable

End