Rates have shot up so high in some areas of England and Wales that nurseries are facing a 300 per cent increase on last year, an NDNA poll revealed.
Business rates, up by an average of 68 per cent, have left day nurseries with an estimated total bill of 110m.
Lynne Hoare, owner of Poets' Corner day nursery in Hove, East Sussex, eight of whose 32 places are funded by the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative, has seen her rates double from 3,150 in 2003/2004 to 6,300 in 2004/2005.
She said, 'I feel strongly that day nurseries should not have to pay any rates at all. We are providing a service. The Government is supposed to encourage affordable childcare. But instead it is shooting itself in the foot by increasing fees - particularly in areas of disadvantage where it has invested a considerable amount of money getting the NNI off the ground.'
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