lynned55 Posted September 27, 2015 Posted September 27, 2015 Really I despair of things ever being equal (or fair come to that) for us. If they cannot even charge us all the same rate for doing the same job, what hope is there of ever having the same inspection report or grade for doing the same thing as the group up the road! 2 Quote
GFCCCC Posted September 28, 2015 Posted September 28, 2015 We have two full daycare 8-6 all year round - £220 each and two sessional, term time only - £35 each Quote
lashes2508 Posted September 28, 2015 Author Posted September 28, 2015 Zigzag , just pay the £35 fee , and put it in writing too your reasons for doing so. If you log on to ofsted site and click invoices you can do it through there, Quote
lashes2508 Posted November 14, 2015 Author Posted November 14, 2015 Update, despite my original email back in August and then chasing up I finally received email from Ofsted yesterday ! are emailing you following your contact on 14th October when you requested a refund on the annual invoices of *************** preschool on the basis that you stated the fee band for the setting for set too high for the years 2012 – 2014. Unfortunately we are unable to issue the refund as requested. Where we invoice a registered provider, we send the invoice to ensure that we are charging the right amount. Payment from the provider is confirmation that the amount is correct. My immediate response was : Thank you for the response finally but have to say that we are not happy with this decision , we trust that Ofsted know what they are doing , just as that is expected from us in the childcare we provide. Having spoke to other providers there seems to be an inconsistency across the charges incurred and i urge that Ofsted review this decision. We are a charity committee run preschool who are funded by our own fundraising efforts and the FEEE funding , we can not afford to lose such money through no fault of our own and if I had not queried it this year we would have been not aware. This is an Ofsted error and should be rectified. 6 Quote
lynned55 Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 Honestly- how can they say that. Where we invoice a registered provider, we send the invoice to ensure that we are charging the right amount. Payment from the provider is confirmation that the amount is correct. I really am quite incredulous at that. What a cheek. I bet if the boot was on the other foot and they decided that they hadn't charged you enough for those years- that stupid statement above wouldn't stand up then. Really, they are reminding me more and more of the way HMRC is run - by people who dont know what they are doing but who's word is final! Well good luck. 1 Quote
lsp Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 If that is the case - does Ofsted publish a table of the different charges so that we can work out how much we should be paying? I couldn't find anything when I looked before. Can anyone put on a link please. Quote
Inge Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) If it is up to you to check fees are correct they should supply the list of charges with each invoice.. maybe everyone needs to ask for one when you get an invoice so you can check.. thing is I remember having a big discussion one year as they overcharged us, and it all came down to the way the person interpreted the 'rules' I did get the invoice changed , and was lucky I noticed and questioned why the sudden increase.. seems the ambiguous use of 'or' in this phrase causes issues . 'Childcare providers on domestic or non-domestic premises pay a reduced fee of £35 for the Early Years Register if they work for less than 3 hours a day, or less than 5 days a week, or less than 45 weeks a year.' as we were open more than 3 hours a day they insisted we should pay higher fee - not so it is all 3 criteria together.. found this but it is an old document.. not able to find a more recent one anywhere.. but from this thread they seem to not charge same amounts anyway. Update.. found the information.. took a while to find the right word combination and a lot of searching - they are on the how to apply information.. very helpful for those already registered.. https://www.gov.uk/register-childminder-childcare-provider/how-to-apply Edited November 14, 2015 by Inge 1 Quote
lsp Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 Thanks Inge. I will check with my Treasurer what rate we pay. Quote
Mouseketeer Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 We only meet the 'less than 45 weeks' and pay £35. Quote
Inge Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 We only meet the 'less than 45 weeks' and pay £35. Sorry , probably didn't make it clear.. to pay higher fee you have to meet all 3 criteria... Had a long dispute one year when I was told that as it said 'or' if just one was not met then we had to pay higher fee..as we were open more than 3 hours a day, 5 days a week they decided we did not qualify for the lower fee.. took a lot of calls to get it sorted.. all down to one persons interpretation of a statement. 1 Quote
ForestFlo Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 ohhh we've been paying far too much then - I know we're doing the higher rate as we did our cash-flow forecast last week. I dread to think how long we've been paying that as our previous treasurer dealt with all invoices and wouldnt have even questionned it!! Quote
lashes2508 Posted November 15, 2015 Author Posted November 15, 2015 This year was the first year they enclosed the charges criteria , when I called they had all the correct info re our opening hours so still their error. I will get that refund after all it's taken them nearly 3 months to respond. Plus we paid the fee immediately and then it appeared back in our account , they sent a letter saying it had not been received and we repaid but we had used the exact details as before ! 2 Quote
sunnyday Posted November 15, 2015 Posted November 15, 2015 D'you need me to hold your coat lashes - fight them for this...... Quote
lashes2508 Posted February 1, 2016 Author Posted February 1, 2016 Sunny day get ready for holding my coat ! - update got a nice phone call on Thursday from a very nice man who is investigating , he confirms that he can see no reason as to why we were charged incorrectly and he is awaiting decision from above, as he is away this week his colleague should be calling with update and if the answer is not to my satisfaction then we move upwards and onwards to get the refund 1 Quote
lashes2508 Posted February 9, 2016 Author Posted February 9, 2016 Sunny day can you hold my coat please .................... Whilst I get the champagnes glasses ! Received a phone call from a very nice man who confirmed we got our refund for 3 years overpayment Email sent with bank details ( the settings not my own ) to accept the payment , 1 - lashes 0 ofsted Only down side is that my colleague informs me she believes the setting has been paying the higher charge for at least 7 years ( before I was there) But I think I shall wait for this refund before going in with that one , feeling grand The moral of this story is if you believe in something fight it til you get the result you want . Cheers 6 Quote
sunnyday Posted February 9, 2016 Posted February 9, 2016 Brilliant news lashes my lovely! ::1a 1 Quote
lynned55 Posted February 9, 2016 Posted February 9, 2016 Aw, lashes thats great news. Hats off to you for persevering with it as well 1 Quote
lashes2508 Posted March 10, 2016 Author Posted March 10, 2016 Spent some of the money on all the team attending elizabethjarman seminar which was really useful 2 Quote
Guest Posted March 14, 2016 Posted March 14, 2016 They'll probably realise ours are all wrong and charge us more next year lol We pay £50 and are open 21 hours term time only. It wouldn't surprise me if they got it all wrong! We had a letter from them recently saying they were shutting us down because we hadn't paid, which scared and confused the hell out of me because we have a direct debit set up! When we queried it, they said "oh yes", the direct debit system messed up and they all failed. The is the second time in 4 months they have told us they are closing us down because of their own errors! My heart can't take much more! Quote
lynned55 Posted March 14, 2016 Posted March 14, 2016 We had that letter as well and we also pay via DD. Quote
Mouseketeer Posted March 14, 2016 Posted March 14, 2016 just pd £35, term time, 30 hours a week, 6 hrs a day Quote
MegaMum Posted March 14, 2016 Posted March 14, 2016 I just paid £50, term time, open 21 hours per week. Quote
Rafa Posted March 14, 2016 Posted March 14, 2016 We pay £50 and are open 21 hours term time only. It wouldn't surprise me if they got it all wrong! We had a letter from them recently saying they were shutting us down because we hadn't paid, which scared and confused the hell out of me because we have a direct debit set up! When we queried it, they said "oh yes", the direct debit system messed up and they all failed. The is the second time in 4 months they have told us they are closing us down because of their own errors! My heart can't take much more! Yes happened to me - twice! I only found out that they had de-registered me when they informed the LA! i was - as I often am these days - furious!! No email, no telephone call to either myself or my manager - just GONE - with a press of a button! i have been registered for more years than I care to mention but they didnt even enquire as to wether or not I was dead or alive! Good job we work in a 'care' industry - I dread to think........... For the record I pay £50 for 15 hours - worth every penny eh? Ofsted definately need 'Ofsteding!'. Rubbish organisation! Quote
Fredbear Posted March 15, 2016 Posted March 15, 2016 £35.00 here. Term time setting open 21 hrs per week. Quote
lsp Posted March 15, 2016 Posted March 15, 2016 £50 - open 27 hours term time only. It was £35 and received bill for £50 this year. When i queried it I was told that there had been a mistake in previous years and we should have been paying £50. Quote
Guest Posted March 16, 2016 Posted March 16, 2016 Yes happened to me - twice! I only found out that they had de-registered me when they informed the LA! i was - as I often am these days - furious!! No email, no telephone call to either myself or my manager - just GONE - with a press of a button! i have been registered for more years than I care to mention but they didnt even enquire as to wether or not I was dead or alive! Good job we work in a 'care' industry - I dread to think........... For the record I pay £50 for 15 hours - worth every penny eh? Ofsted definately need 'Ofsteding!'. Rubbish organisation! It's criminal that they are responsible for inspecting us when they don't appear to have a clue. Quote
lashes2508 Posted March 19, 2016 Author Posted March 19, 2016 I agree and would urge you not to give up if you think they have got it wrong ! Which they probably have , we paid our £35 promptly to then be sent a letter saying we had not yet the bank statement showed in went out and came back to us so we had to resend , Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.