Since then two parents, whom I have taken to small claims court, have owed me 2,000. However, as they are on a low income, the court agreed that they can pay back a very small amount monthly; up to now I still haven't seen any money at all.
The court has not taken into account the fact that these parents actually had the money from working tax credit but chose to spend it on something else rather than the childcare it was meant for. I used to believe this was fraud - but nobody else seems to see it that way.
Nurseries are being left with large debts and have to find time to chase debts. The Inland Revenue has started to send bundles of letters to nurseries to check that parents are spending what they say they are spending on childcare and that their children are still actually attending.
This is more and more paperwork that we do not get paid to do.
Why can't the Inland Revenue pay nurseries direct, just like local education authorities pay the nursery education grant for three-year-olds?
Pauline Gunn
Smiley Faces Nursery, Kings Heath, Birmingham.
