Portsmouth City Council, which is currently funded below the national average, will receive an uplift of 32p per hour on average existing rates for the free entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds.
This is the maximum hourly rate the Government will provide to pilot local authorities currently funded at below national average levels, and it is being passed on in full to providers. Only Newham, an early implementer London borough with historically higher levels of funding, has confirmed it is paying more at £5.17 per hour.
The news comes after Tops Day Nurseries, which has a nursery in Portsmouth, launched a petition calling for an urgent review of funding for the three- and four-year-old free entitlement, after losing more than 10 per cent on the hourly rate at one of its settings. The petition has now amassed nearly 28,000 signatures.
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