Nursery Wages On The Rise !
Over 60% of nurseries in England would raise wages if government abolished business tax.
The survey, published by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), asked 782 providers what impact it would have on their business if they no longer had to pay business rates. Nearly half of providers said they would reduce losses in the business while 32 per cent said they would be able to increase their staff numbers. Nearly 41 per cent of providers said they would reduce fee increases to parents.
In England, the average bill is now £13,267, which is the equivalent of delivering 15-hour per week places for five children, based on the lowest hourly funding rate of £4.61.
Most local authorities give the funding with one hand, and we move it across to the business rates department with our hand.and then pass on the cost to the nurseries.
Childcare businesses in Scotland and Wales no longer have to pay business rates, but in England, the average bill of £13,267 is the equivalent of delivering 15-hour-per-week places for five children, based on the lowest hourly funding rate of £4.61.
‘Safety Has Got To Be Paramount’
However, the government says the change to the ratio for two-year-olds could reduce childcare costs by up to £40 for a family paying £265 per week.
Claire Coutinho, minister for children, families and wellbeing said: “Safety has got to be paramount to what we are trying to do, but I think at the same time thinking about the affordability of childcare, looking at some of those flexibilities for providers, looking at how we can make sure that staff feel that their judgment is being trusted, I think those things are important as well.”
The arguments put forward in the debate clearly showed there is simply no case to change ratios. As such, we hope the government will finally recognise that far from solving the so-called ‘childcare crisis’, relaxing ratios will only make an already-dire situation even worse.”