Additional childcare fees

Some childcare providers charge additional fees. It’s important that you ask about these before you sign your contract so that you can budget and also to ensure you don’t get a surprise when your invoice arrives.

Your childcare provider will ask you to sign a contract when your child takes up a place. There should not be any deposit/fees for early education funded hours. However, if you pay for additional hours, you may be required to pay a deposit.

Ask your childcare provider if meals, snacks or nappies are payable on top of the hourly or sessional cost and if these charges are optional. When your child is only accessing the funded 15 or 30 hours there should not be any additional mandatory fees to pay.

The majority of outings will be low cost or free. Trips to the local park, the beach and the library are popular with childcare providers and offer valuable learning opportunities for your child. Your childcare provider may wish to take the child further afield, perhaps to the zoo or a farm – trips like this may incur an additional charge, but you should be given plenty of notice or choose for your child not to take part in the outing.

If you have any queries about additional fees, speak to your childcare provider in the first instance. If you have any other queries, email eydelivery@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

It is also important to check what notice period you need to give if you want to take your child to another provider in the future. This should be written in the contract and Admissions Policy. The majority of providers will require four weeks’ notice to leave.  For funded places this means you cannot move your child and take up a funded place until the notice period comes to an end or you are likely to be double-funded and then these costs will have to be repaid by you. For hours you pay in addition to funded hours, a notice period is still likely to apply and your deposit will be returned on the basis of you following the notice periods set.

Depending on your income and family situation, you could be eligible for additional support to help pay your childcare costs. View the help with childcare costs page to find out more or go to the Childcare Choices website. You can also use the childcare calculator to find out what help you could be entitled to and to help you decide what options suit your family best.