Nursery World - Northamptonshire County Council in early years funding blunder

A new IT system has caused havoc for childcare providers in Northamptonshire, leaving more than 80 per cent of them with either overpayments or underpayments for funded places.

230-underpaid Northamptonshire County Council has underpaid 230 providers, including nurseries and childminders.

More than a third of the 622 childcare providers in Northamptonshire are owed money by the council, amounting to a total of £124,845, because of errors in administrating funding payments.

The local authority said the move to paying funding monthly rather than termly in September 2017, when the 30 hours came in, meant ‘errors were made and as a result there were significant inaccuracies in the payment of funds’ (see box for its full statement).

One affected provider, Tom Shea, owner of the Child First Nurseries group of six settings, one of which is based in Northampton, was underpaid £12,000 by the council. Sam Evans, who operates Little Learners Childcare, two nurseries in Northampton, was underpaid by over £7,000. Both providers have now received the money from the council.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included