Pre-school Education: Fees and Charges

(asked on 27th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that private early years providers do not charge top-up fees to parents entitled to free childcare under the Free Early Education Entitlement.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 29th April 2021

Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare for eligible two, three and four year olds across 38 weeks of the year. It is not intended to cover the costs of meals, additional hours or additional services, and providers may charge parents for these.

Our statutory guidance is clear that local authorities should work with providers to ensure all parents have fair access to a free place, which must be delivered completely free of charge. Providers should not charge parents “top-up” fees (any difference between a provider’s normal charge to parents and the funding they receive from the local authority to deliver free places) or require parents to pay a registration fee as a condition of taking up their child’s free place.

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