Save Our Nurseries Campaign

[Guest]

Hi there,

 

I just wondered if you were all aware of the implications of the proposed changes by the Govt...it's a hot issue!

 

www.saveournurseries.org

[narnia]

changes............which changes???

[Guest]

Don't leave us in the dark - what's happening now?

[Guest]

I think the website is the best answer to that, but I've copied some of what I got in their email here:

 

"From April 2007, the government has implemented a great many changes that will impact all pre-schools and nurseries. The additional paperwork, inspections and responsibilities are onerous but for many the inability to be able to set their own fees during the ‘funded’ period and having to provide their services on the government's funding subsidy alone for the 12.5 hours of subsidised sessions will simply make them financially unsustainable.

 

The government has disallowed providers from making up this shortfall or to make any supplementary charges for additional facilities or services during the Funded period. In fact parent's will not be able to pay for any additional charges - even if they want to !

 

This is viewed by many providers as ‘nationalisation by stealth’ as, despite being completely independent privately-run groups and businesses, they are being forced into cutting their services to parents and children, providing what may have to be a lower quality service to the government's standards, despite the liability still remaining with the provider.

 

As one provider pointed out;

 

'If the Government are so intent on providing benefits to parents so they can go back to work, why are they not insisting Virgin Trains give parents discounted rail tickets, BP provide cheap petrol or Vodaphone provide free calls to the Nursery ? The reason they are not insisting these companies provide free services and yet we are, is because childcare is seen as an easy target to penalise.'

 

Most providers feel that this is undemocratic and unreasonable interference in private businesses and, dispirited by ever-increasing bureaucracy and restrictions, for some this is the last straw."

[Guest]

Oh and if it's old new to you sorry! x

[Guest]

Sorry to say that has been news for quite awhile. The campaign has been going for the last year and alot of boroughs have "ongoing dialogues" with the settings to keep them open. What has followed is that all settings should have been asked by their local authorities to do a financial questtionaire to let government know how much it costs to run a setting so that the Schools Forums who will be settign the amount that we get next year with a Formula the same as the schools ahave their money set. The formula's will be different to the Schools formula but constructed along the same lines.

Hope that makes sense. No pre-school or setting should be asking the parent to pay mor for the 2 half hours and cannot make a paent take more than those hours if they don't want to hence the problem for nurseries that have longer sessions than 2half hours.

Hope that explains it a bit more. There has been numerous discussions on the forum re the grants.

[Guest]

Hi Steph,

 

It all started down here in Kent, so i feel a bit like it's dragging on now, I just wondered if it had got to a national debating standard and if others had joined the campaign as without them signing up, nothing will happen and we will end up being stuffed with unsatisfactory conditions.

 

Thanks for making me aware of the spread of it

[Guest]

Yes, I do have attended many meetings - Im in Kent also.

 

I did hear about one nursery near me, that are trying to get over this problem by asking for a quarterly adminstration charge - not sure how they are going to get away with it mind you