In January, the National Day Nurseries Association revealed that huge numbers of providers are not receiving funding that is rightfully theirs.
According to the NDNA’s Freedom of Information findings, more than three-quarters of local authorities underspent their childcare funding pot in 2018/19, totalling £63 million.
Most of this money was not passed back to childcare providers, with four in five failing to pass it through – figures which provider and campaigner Ian Morgan describes as ‘shocking’.
Mr Morgan, who brought the issue to the NDNA’s attention, believes the Government system provides a cover for exploitation by councils, with some robbing Peter to pay Paul by using the money to balance the books elsewhere. ‘If there’s a loophole, people will find it,’ he says.
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