Free childcare expansion comes at a cost, Leicester nursery warns

Staff at Allexton Nursery say an existing offer has already left them out of pocket due to a shortfall in government funding

Nursery staff fear the expansion of a free childcare scheme will put further financial pressures on providers.

Working parents of two-year-olds will be eligible for 15 hours of free childcare per week during term time from April.

Staff at Allexton Day Nursery, in Leicester, say an existing offer has already left them out of pocket due to a shortfall in government funding.

But the Department for Education (DfE) said it was "confident" in the scheme.

Currently, working parents of children aged three and four can apply for 30 hours of free childcare during term time.

The government hopes extending the scheme will get more parents back to work, and from September 2025, all children under five will be eligible for the offer.

Katy Lynch (left) and Sam Wilkins said they were concerned about the future of nurseries

Sam Wilkins, fundraising coordinator at Allexton Day Nursery, said: "It's advertised as free early years education, but it's not free, everything comes at a cost.

"We are having to provide more food, more cleaning and more equipment that is not counted in the funds that the government give us. So it doesn't meet what it costs to run the nursery, so we are always at a shortfall."

Nursery manager Katy Lynch said the demand for free nursery places outweighed capacity.

"I could fill the nursery again," she said. "I have a waiting list as long as your arm and I'm turning parents away on a daily basis.

"Even children and families we've got in at the moment now want to increase their hours and there is not the capacity to do that because we are full.

"I'm signposting the families to other nurseries in the area, who are also saying they are full.

"So my worry is that the government has introduced this for working parents, but where are the spaces going to come from to provide the care and education for the children?"

Staff shortage

Ms Wilkins said it was "massively" difficult to attract new people into the profession because "it's such a low paid job".

"You get the minimum wage, there is no more money out there to pay more," she said.

Ms Lynch added the pay did not reflect the huge responsibility staff had to care for other people's children.

"A lot of early years professionals and settings are concerned about the future of nurseries," she said.

The expansion of free childcare will help parents return to work, the government says

Government spending is set to double to £8bn per year to fund the expansion, but Jonathan Broadbery, from the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said it was not enough.

"It's going to be really challenging for providers to deliver what the government has promised if the funding is not addressed," he said.

"It's not possible for settings to stay open, deliver the high-quality care and education they want to at the rates the government is promising to pay."

A DfE spokesperson said: "We are confident in the strength of our childcare market to deliver the largest ever expansion in childcare in England's history and we are already seeing providers looking to expand their placements across the country.

"We have increased the hourly funding rates with a £204m cash boost this year and over £400m next year.

"We will continue to support providers to deliver each stage of the rollout through increases to the rates we pay, our national recruitment campaign and establishing more qualification routes into the sector."