Legislation that this relates to:

The Childcare Act 2006 and The Childcare Act 2016

The regulations that follow relate to the Statutory Guidance Early Education and Childcare.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-applies-from-1-april-2024

Charging

A1.32 Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare. The 15 or 30 hours must be able to be accessed free of charge to parents. There must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. Government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services.

A1.33 Local authorities should ensure that providers are aware that they can charge parents for the following extras in connection with the free hours, but these charges must be voluntary for the parent:

• consumables to be used by the child, such as nappies or sun cream
• meals and snacks consumed by the child - in limited circumstances where a provider is unable to enable parents to bring their own food to a setting, providers may charge for food, but this cost must be reflective of the costs of the food itself, and must not exceed the reasonable cost of the food provided
• extra optional activities such as events, celebrations, specialist tuition (for example music classes or foreign languages) or other activities that are not directly related or necessary for the effective delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework

Providers can also charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing a free place.

A1.34 Local authorities should ensure that providers follow these terms in levying any chargeable extras.

A1.35 The costs of chargeable extras should be published on provider websites or, where they do not have any website, on local authority Family Information Services. These should be clear, up-to-date and easily accessible to parents, to enable parents to make an informed choice of provider. They should set out, for each setting, the amounts charged for all the chargeable extras listed, as well as the pattern of hours that parents can take the entitlements. Local authorities may wish to ensure providers follow DfE’s template of how to set out these costs and may exempt childminders and providers caring for 10 or fewer children at any one time. This should be fully implemented by January 2026 at the latest.

A1.36 Invoices and receipts should be itemised, and local authorities should work with providers to ensure their invoices break down separately into:

• the free entitlement hours
• additional private paid hours
• food charges
• non-food consumables charges
• activities charges

Local authorities should ensure these itemised invoices are in place by January 2026. This is to allow parents to see that they have received their child’s free entitlement hours completely free of charge and understand that any fees paid are for additional hours or optional services. Invoices and receipts should include the provider’s full details so that they can be identified as coming from a specific provider.

A1.37 Parents must be able to opt out of paying for chargeable extras and the associated consumable or activity for their child. For activities and extra services, providers should be made aware that participation in any optional extra activity should be on the basis of parental choice and a willingness to meet the charges. In these circumstances, local authorities should ensure that children who do not participate in optional activities continue to receive provision that complies with the EYFS.

A1.38 Providers should be mindful of the impact of charges on families, particularly the most disadvantaged. Providers, who choose to offer the free entitlements, are responsible for setting a policy on providing parents with options for alternatives to additional charges. This policy must offer reasonable alternatives that allow parents to access the entitlement for free, including allowing parents to supply their own, or waiving or reducing the cost of these items.

A1.39 In all cases, these chargeable extras must not be a condition of taking up a free place. All parents, including disadvantaged families, must have fair access to a free place. A local authority should intervene if a provider seeks to make additional hours, optional services or optional consumables a mandatory condition of taking up a free place.

A1.40 Providers should deliver the free entitlements consistently, so that all children within a setting accessing any of the free entitlements receive the same quality and access to provision, regardless of whether they choose to pay for voluntary hours, voluntary extra services, meals or consumables.

A1.41Local authorities must take all steps available to ensure that the free entitlements are available free of charge and therefore that providers do not charge parents for the following in connection with the entitlement hours:

• 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)
• the supply of or use of any materials, including, but not limited to, craft materials, crayons, paper, books, instruments, toys, or other equipment or learning resources that are necessary for the effective delivery of childcare
• business running costs, including, but not limited to, rent, staff wages, cleaning materials, insurance, or utility bills such as energy, gas or water
• registration fees as a condition of taking up a child’s free entitlement place
• non-refundable deposits as a condition of taking up a child’s entitlement place
• general charges, including but not limited to, non-itemised enrichment charges, sustainability charges, business continuity charges, additional charges, enhanced ratios, hourly rates, or any other supplementary charges on top of the free hours
• any additional fees that are not specifically identified and itemised as being for chargeable extras as described in A1.33.

A1.42 Local authorities should ensure providers adhere to the following terms, regardless of whether they charge any chargeable extras.

A1.43 Local authorities should ensure that providers work with parents so that parents understand which hours or sessions can be taken as free provision. Not all providers will be able to offer fully flexible places, but providers should work with parents to ensure that as far as possible the pattern of the entitlement hours are convenient for parents’ working hours. Local authorities should ensure that children are able to take up their free hours in continuous blocks if they wish to, and there should be no artificial breaks in the entitlement hours. For example a provider should not offer 10am to midday and 1pm to 3pm as entitlement hours and offer only private paid hours only in between.

A1.44 Local authorities should ensure that providers and parents are aware that the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) provides additional funding to providers to support the quality of early education for eligible children taking up early education and childcare entitlements. The Disability Access Fund (DAF) supports eligible, disabled children’s access to the entitlements.