Nurseries afraid to put up fees, says report
BBC News | Hannah Richardson | education and social affairs reporter | 24 February 2016
Nurseries have resisted fee hikes for the first time in eight years, amid fears they will price parents out of the market, a report claims.
Average prices rose by inflation only, as providers in Britain realised they had reached a “crunch point”, the Family and Childcare Trust report says.
Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah said government investment had boosted access to affordable childcare.
But the author warns the fees “freeze” is not sustainable in the long term.
The report says government reforms to wages and pensions will raise the staff bill and contribute to financial pressures on childcare providers in the near future.
And new funding arrangements for free early education are failing to meet the full cost in some areas, forcing childcare providers to raise the amount they charge for additional hours, says the report.
The 2016 Childcare Survey for the charity, based on responses from 197 local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland, found the price of sending a child under two to nursery part-time (25 hours) is now £116.77 per week, or £6,072 per year.
This is a 1.1% rise since 2015 and compares with much steeper rises over the previous seven years.
Since 2008, nursery fees for under-twos have increased by 48.6% and 51.8% for over-twos.
