Nursery World - Hughes stands firm on top-up fees

Children's minister Beverley Hughes reiterated the Government's commitment to 'free' nursery education for three- and four-year-olds and a ban on the private and voluntary sector from charging top-up fees, when she faced questions in the House of Commons last week. Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP for Croydon South, asked the minister to explain why 'popular and high-quality nurseries' were not able to charge top-up fees.

Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP for Croydon South, asked the minister to explain why 'popular and high-quality nurseries' were not able to charge top-up fees.

In reply, Ms Hughes said that what he was asking was for 'free entitlement to become a subsidy for better-off parents', and that 'the private sector could then make higher charges and better-off parents would be simply allowed to use that subsidy'.

Ms Hughes added, 'We will not allow the generation of a two-tier system, in which some families can afford a better quality of care, but poorer families cannot. This will remain a free entitlement for all families.' But she stressed that diversity of provision was important because it gave parents choice and drove up quality throughout the sector.

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