decision to cut their funding.
The county council is reducing the amount of funding it pays to childminders for threeand four-year-old places for 2015/16 by 34.8 per cent, from £5.06 to £3.30 per hour.
Childminders with children from disadvantaged areas will receive a slightly higher rate.
Norfolk County Council said the move is designed to bring childminders in line with other early years providers.
According to the Government's benchmarking tool, on average, private, voluntary and independent nurseries in Norfolk received £3.75 per hour to deliver the places this financial year.
The council is also introducing a new funding formula, which it says will create a 'much fairer and simpler system.' A Norfolk County Council spokesperson said, 'We are not reducing the total amount of early years funding, but we are changing the allocation of the funding to better align it to the county council's Early Help strategy and ultimately meet the needs of more families in Norfolk.
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