The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has told Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to maintain better oversight of nurseries’ charging structures when they are providing the Government’s free places scheme.

The Ombudsman has asked the council to write to all providers in its area who are providing places under the Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) scheme to tell them any top-up fees charged for the free places should be voluntary.

The issue was highlighted in a complaint to the Ombudsman by a father, who was concerned the nursery his child attended was charging a mandatory fee, which it called ‘general extras’, for parents who wanted to use their free-hours at nursery during certain times of the day.  

The Ombudsman has found in this case, along with several other complaints across the country, a nursery was charging a top up fee, to bridge the gap between what a private client would pay for the care hours, and what the council pays on behalf of the Government scheme.

This is against national guidance published by the Department for Education, which explains that parents should not face mandatory charges for accessing free hours. Nurseries can charge for extras such as meals, snacks or for consumables such as nappies or sun cream, but that this should be voluntary, and any charges should be itemised. However, in this case the parents could not choose whether to pay or not, and it was not clear what the charges went towards.

The Ombudsman found that once the council had received a complaint, it should have ensured the nursery’s pricing policy was transparent and worked with the nursery to ensure its invoices were clear and itemised. This would allow parents to see they had received their child’s free entitlement completely free of charge and could identify fees paid for additional private hours or services.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal said:

“We are publishing this report now, more than two years after it was originally made, due to a drawn-out legal challenge. We are pleased the judge has now provided clarity on the matter, by deciding in favour of our finding, which upholds the premise that any extras to the free entitlement must be clear and transparent.

“We recognise the pressures councils and nurseries face in ensuring sustainable access to free early-years entitlement. However, the law is clear that free entitlement is just that; parents should not face mandatory charges as a condition to access the scheme. When councils are made aware of problems, they must act in a timely manner to ensure that local nursery providers are following the law. I now look forward to the council implementing the recommendations to improve its services, which the report contains.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council should apologise to the father and reimburse him for any general extras he paid the nursery after he brought the issue to the council’s attention, along with a further £200 for his time and trouble in bringing the complaint.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council should ask the nursery to change its pricing policy so that it is in line with the Guidance and Provider agreement. If the nursery refuses to change its pricing policy, the council should consider its powers to terminate the Agreement and withdraw funding in whole or in part. It should also send a letter to other FEEE providers in its area and inform them of the Ombudsman’s decision and remind them of its expectations in terms of pricing.

 

Article date: 08 May 2025