Nursery World has learned that this attempt to claw back funding for missed hours is happening in some of the most deprived areas in the country, where providers have worked hard to build up trust with the local community and encourage parents to bring children to nursery.
Training and support group Early Years Equality claims that the practice is now widespread among local authorities and that they have heard from settings who are faced with losing several thousand pounds for unused hours, with money automatically deducted from their next term's free entitlement funding.
Councils are putting the onus on nurseries to recoup money from parents, despite the fact that Government guidance in the Code of Practice states that parents must not be charged for free nursery education places.
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