CEY0029

Written evidence submitted by Toddler Town Nursery Ltd

Problems maintaining a childcare setting.

I am a manager / Director of a day nursery; we provide care and education for children 0-5 years old. Around 80% of our children are government funded.

Over the last years we have witnessed the introduction of the living wage, we have seen increase in wages without the increase in funding at the same rate.

Pensions have been introduced and again my business can not balance the percentage increase as my business is 80% funded by government fees.

The whole country is not in crisis due to energy increase, as a childcare provider the nursery must be warm and maintain a climate suitable for young babies.

To remain competitive the base rate can not be increased to match inflation, our setting is in a deprived areas and money is tight for all.

Problems with recruiting and maintaining staff

Last year my setting lost three staff members who had been employed by the setting for 16+ years. One member of staff moved to a supermarket they can make more money and have less responsibly and stress.

The two other team members went into schools, they are provided with a higher funding level and can offer better wages and term time only hours. Nursery’s can not compete with this.

Trying to find staff to replace long term, qualified team members has been very difficult and I have employed staff who normally wouldn’t meet my requirements. If I did not do this rooms in the setting would have to close.

SEND funding and children

We are a setting with a high number of SEND children, the work that goes into supporting these individuals is not balanced with funding. The amount of meeting and paperwork that needs to be completed before funding is received directly affects the financial stability of the setting. The nursery works closely with families and other professionals to recognise need and support children going forward, it is often the case that the setting does all the ground work and the next setting or school receives the funding.

January 2023