A NURSERY teacher who has been forced out of business because she couldn’t afford to provide free childcare anymore says she feels “cheated and let down.”

Jackie Nagle ran Fidgety Fingers in Hastingwood for 10 years, but the government’s new rules would have hit her hard and she has been left with no other alternative. 

Current guidelines advise childminders and pre-schools to give 15-hours-free a week to parents of children earning less than £100k each a year, but this is due to change to 30 in September.

Mrs Nagle said: “It’s a fiasco. I’ve given 30 years to this industry and dedicated my whole life to it, but I’ve never seen it in such a state.

“I feel like the government is walking over everybody and I’m feeling cheated. It’s such a frustrating situation as the kids will now have to find new nurseries.

“I’m disappointed. I can’t say I’m annoyed or angry as there’s bigger things going on in the world, but I am feeling very let down.”

Children aged three and four whose parents are each earning less than £100k a year will be eligible for 30 hours’ funded childcare from September, doubling the current allocation of 15 hours.

But this will leave many nurseries facing closure, because the rate the government offers nurseries in compensation is 39p below the actual hourly cost of childcare.

Under the existing scheme, nurseries can make up for the shortfall by charging the parents more the rest of the time – but parents rarely need more than 30 hours a week in childcare.

After paying the six members of staff, Mrs Nagle’s earnings would have fallen below minimum wage and she would be left with no money for herself. 

The policy is the final nail in the coffin for small businesses and childminders, she says.

She added: “It’s brilliant for working parents but not for me.”
The government has advised nurseries to ask parents for voluntary payments, something not everyone can afford.

She added: “Why should the parents pay for a service the government say is free? I can tolerate a loss to a certain extent by making sacrifices and having a lower income myself but this is too much.

“You wouldn’t ask anyone in another industry to work for free for 30 hours a week, so why is it okay for us? 

“The last couple of years I’ve only just broken even so there’s no way I can carry on in September. It’s very sad. 

“If I was to stay open, I’d make £0 a week, that isn’t viable. Parents have been very supportive and they are all very upset.#

“It’s too late for us but I’m keen to raise awareness about what’s going on to help other small nurseries stay going.”

Fidgety Fingers, which had been judged outstanding in its last four Ofsted inspections, shut its doors last Wednesday.

The Department for Education has claimed it funds nurseries to provide free childcare at a higher rate than the hourly cost.

Minister for children and families, Robert Goodwill, said: “We are determined to support as many families as possible with access to high-quality, affordable childcare, which is why we are investing a record £6 billion every year by 2020 in childcare – more than ever before. 

"This includes an additional £1 billion per year to pay for the free offers and to raise the total hourly funding rate to local authorities for three- and four-year-olds to £4.94 per hour. 

“This rate is based on a comprehensive review of childcare costs, which took into account current and future cost pressures. They are also far higher than the average hourly cost of providing childcare for three- and four-year-olds, which recent research has found to be £3.72. 

“Our early delivery programme has already been a huge success - including in the areas using our increased funding rates – and many thousands of hardworking parents are seeing the benefits of access to 30 hours of free childcare.”