Childcare before breakfast clubs to cost £1 a day in Rhondda Cynon Taf

A £1 price tag is being attached to childcare before school breakfast clubs in Rhondda Cynon Taf

A council is to start charging £1 a day for childcare before school breakfast clubs.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council said this would save £495,000 a year, which would be put back into schools.

There will be a charge of £40-a-term for three days a week and £60-a-term for five days a week, despite hundreds of people opposing the plans.

The breakfast clubs themselves will remain free, and children entitled to free school meals will be exempt.

Only the first two children in a household that uses the service will have to be paid for.

The charge will come in at the start of 2024's spring term, or as soon as possible after.

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Of 1,351 responses to a consultation on the matter 985 (73%) disagreed with the plan to introduce a charge while 254 (19%) agreed. A total of 106 (8%) said they didn't know.

Council leader Andrew Morgan said the two-child cap and making those eligible for free school meals exempt was the right thing to do.

He said the two-tier charge of £40 a term for three days a week and £60 a term for five days a week "seems a lot fairer."

Hundreds of people have objected to Rhondda Cynon Taf council's plan

The council is considering increasing the price of a range of its services, as part of a budget Mr Morgan described "one of the most challenging" he had been involved with.

The proposals include a 4.9% council tax hike, a rise which would bring in just over £1m.

Other possibilities include raising the price of meals on wheels and day service meals by 25p, from £4.55 to £4.80, and introducing a 25p fee for some bookings at Pontypridd Lido.

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