Fee-Charging Policy

Childminder Name: Mrs Denise Barrett

EY Number: EY397753

DfE Number: 537895

Effective 1st September 2025

This fees policy should be read alongside/forms part of the contract with the parents/carer and Mrs Denise Barrett.

Fees will be discussed with parents during initial contractual discussions and will be set out in the ‘Contract’ between Mrs Denise Barrett and person with parental responsibility.

Opening Times

Monday - Thursday 7.45am - 6.00pm. Hourly childminding rate £6.50

Friday 7.45am - 5.00pm. Hourly childminding rate £6.50

There is a minimum session of 8 hours.

Hour’s child minded outside contracted hours, occasional unsocial hours, occasional childminding, charges due to child illness, parent illness, occasional days off are all charged at £6.50 per hour for all contracted hours. No overnight care is available.

Invoicing and Payment

Payments are due 1st of the month - one month in advance. Payments can be made by bank transfer, through Tax Free Childcare or a childcare voucher provider.

Where you claim Early Education Funding for your child, your invoice will clearly state which hours are taken as funded hours, and which are taken as additional hours. Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week (or fewer under the Stretched Funding Scheme) of free, high quality, flexible early education and care. Government funding is not intended to cover the cost of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services like outings. Providers can charge for consumables, meals and snacks, extra activities and additional hours provided. Daisy Dolls has a voluntary daily cost of £5.00. This contributes towards outings, trips, entrance fees and car parking, entry to play groups, special occasional parties and hall hire, Tapestry, consumables and educational subscriptions.

Where possible I will be flexible to accommodate changing needs, so if contracted hours need to be changed, reduced or additional hours required please contact me as soon as possible to discuss this. Four weeks’ notice must be given to reduce contractual hours. I am required to operate within ratio’s (EYFS September 2025) and am unable to go over those numbers.

Late payment fee

A fee of £15 will be charged if you do not settle your invoice by the end of the month it is due. The late invoice will continue to incur a £15 a month late payment charge until it is settled. This is in the ‘Contract, between Mrs Denise Barrett and person with parental responsibility.

Unpaid fees

If fees are unpaid the following procedure will take place:

A letter requesting payment of outstanding fees within 2 weeks will be sent to parents. Should the fees remain unpaid a second letter requesting payment of outstanding fees within 7 days will be sent to parents. The ‘Contract’ will clearly state that non-payment of fees which have been outstanding for 60 days or for reoccurring late payment of fees will mean that I will terminate the ‘Contract’.

Payment by cheque will not be considered as payment until cleared.

Late Collection

A late collection fee of £1.75 for every 15 minutes will be charged if you are late collecting your child.

Closures and sickness

Daisy Dolls is closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the days between Boxing Day up to and including New Year’s Day. No fee is payable as the service is not available. Daisy Dolls is closed all Bank Holiday Mondays, Good Friday, plus other Public Holidays. Parents can request a movement of any lost Early Education funding to another day in the week/funding period. I will do my best to meet all requests within my operational capacity. I am required to operate within ratio’s (EYFS September 2025) and am unable to go over those numbers.

Attendance

Parents must ensure that Early Education Funding is used on a regular weekly basis. Funding may be withdrawn with regular non-attendance. Parents must notify me of all absences prior to the contracted arrival time. The reason will be recorded in the register. The provider agreement for Early Education Funding states I must inform BCP of frequent poor attendance. I must have clear recorded evidence to demonstrate I have attempted to manage the situation including dates and times of contact with parents/carers, the names of those dealing with the issue with the actions and outcomes. Daisy Dolls will receive the Early Education funding when parents fail to send their child and all due diligence has been made to manage the situation. There is no movement on lost days due to non-attendance.

Full contracted private childminding fees of £6.50 per hour are payable for all non-attendance, including but not limited to: if your child is ill and unable to attend, or if you (parent) are ill and unable to bring your child.

BCP will be informed immediately if your child is likely to have a prolonged absence due to illness (holiday). BCP will respond on a case-by-case basis.

Daisy Dolls will receive funding where parents withdraw their child, for instance to go on holiday, for up to 2 weeks (or 3 weeks for children claiming a stretched offer) per funding cycle in a year. Early Education Funding at Daisy Dolls can be offered Stretched, by taking fewer hours per week up to 50 weeks a year. The voluntary daily cost of £5.00 is still applicable when your child does not attend for any reason including but not limited to sickness or holiday.

Daisy Dolls can close for up to 2 weeks a year (not including the days listed above), where no fee is payable because the service is not available whilst I take a break.

Privately funded hours – a parent may take up to 2-week holiday break a year, where is no charge is made (that is 2 weeks of contracted hours and not 14 days). If you take your child out of setting for a longer period, the standard £6.50 per hour for all contracted hours is payable.

Bad Weather Provision

Childminding fees are still payable when a parent decides not to send their child because of bad weather conditions, but Daisy Dolls is still open and my provision is available.

Funded Education Funding Explained

(Includes Disadvantaged 2-year-olds, Universal Entitlement for 3- & 4-year-olds, Working Parent Entitlement for children 9 months +)

The BCP Family Information Directory has lots of useful information for parents and carers about Funded Childcare, including the link to Childcare Choices the Government website. There is more help than ever with the cost of childcare. The Childcare Choices website takes you step by step through options of accessing 15 or 30 childcare support, Universal Credit childcare and Tax-Free Childcare.

At Daisy Dolls you can:

Choose to use your child’s funded hours at any time during my opening hours as listed above.
Access funded childcare without any artificial breaks. This means you will not be told funding is available during a morning session 8.00 – 12.00pm and afternoon session 2.00 – 5.30pm, but the lunch period 12.00 – 2.00pm is paid for privately.
Use up to 10 hours funding each day.

Disadvantaged 2-year-olds

Parents claiming 15 hours Early Education Funding (Disadvantaged 2-year-olds) can claim up to 15 hours in any one week; up to 10 hours in a day and a maximum of 570 hours each year, flexibly.

A child entitled to disadvantaged 2-year-old funding remains eligible until they become eligible for the universal entitlement for 3- and 4- year-olds even if the child or parent ceases to meet the eligibility criteria during this time. If the child is already attending Daisy Dolls prior to the parent confirming their eligibility, funding cannot be backdated. Parents are liable for any fees at my private rate £6.50 per hour, until the date that eligibility is confirmed.

15 hours Universal Entitlement for 3&4-year-olds

All 3&4-year-olds can claim up to 570 hours per funded year, with a maximum 15 hour per week over a minimum of 38 weeks (15 x 38 = 570).

Parents can choose to stretch the 570 hours over a maximum of 50 weeks by taking less than 15 hours per week but over more weeks a year. For example, 14.25 hours a week over 40 weeks, or 11.25 hours a week over 50 weeks. The BCP funding portal only allows for funding to be drawn in .25 increments, hence 570 hours total divided by 50 weeks = 11.4 wouldn’t be able to be entered, hence 11.25 hours in the example.

When a 4-year-old is registered to attend a state funded school (usually the September following his or her fourth birthday), early education funding will no longer be paid to their early year’s setting. However, where parents choose to defer their child’s entry to a state funded school until attendance becomes statutory (term following fifth birthday) they will be able to use early education funding at Daisy Dolls.

Early Education Funding ceases on 31 August prior to a child entering the Reception Class of a school or academy. Schools claim funding from 1 September and are legally obliged to provide an education for children from the first day of term. For example, some schools operate a phased entry where the children’s first day may start after their enrolment at the school. When a child continues to attend Daisy Dolls during this phased entry period, all hours attended are payable at my private rate of £6.50 per hour.

There may be some circumstances where families meet the eligibility criteria for both the disadvantaged two-year-old entitlement and the working family entitlement. In these circumstances, the first 15 hours will be funded under the disadvantaged entitlement, with the remaining hours being funded under the working family entitlement.

Remember to reconfirm eligibility every 3 months for the working parent entitlement. You will not be defaulted automatically onto the disadvantage entitlement should you lose eligibility for the working family entitlement.

Working Family Entitlement for 3&4-year-olds

A child will be eligible to the additional funded 15 hours from the funding period after both of the following conditions are satisfied:

The child has attained relevant age
The child’s parent has a current positive determination of eligibility from HMRC

Working Family Entitlement for children 9 months+ gives families up to 30 hours of Early Education Funding towards childcare

Early Education Funding offers 1140 hours a year in total. Available for 38 weeks of the year (school term time) the funding can be stretched, using The Stretched Funding Scheme, by you taking fewer hours each week over more weeks (e.g. 23.75 hours over 48 weeks).

When a child can start claiming from?

Disadvantaged 2 year-olds:

A child will be entitled to the funded hours from the funding period after both: the child has reached the age of 2, and the child or parent meets the eligibility criteria.

Eligible 2-year-olds can start claiming from the funding period following their second birthday:

Child’s second birthday 1 January – 31 March - the funding can start funding period starting on or after 1 April
Child’s second birthday 1 April – 31 August – the funding can start funding period starting on or after 1 September
Child’s second birthday 1 September – 31 December – the funding can start funding period starting on or after 1 January

15 hours Universal Entitlement for 3&4-year-olds

3&4-year-olds funding –15 hours Universal Entitlement is available for children from the relevant dates (listed below), until they reach compulsory school age (the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday).

Child’s 3rd birthday 1 January – 31 March – the funding can start funding period starting on or after 1 April
Child’s 3rd birthday 1 April - 31 August – the funding can start funding period starting on or after 1 September
Child’s 3rd birthday 1 September – 31 December – the funding can start funding period starting on or after 1 January

Working Family Entitlement for children 9 months and above

From September 2025 children 9 months and above can start claiming 30 hours of funding from:

Funding period starting on or after 1 April, if the child turns 9 months+ between 1 January and 31 March
Funding period starting on or after 1 September, if the child turns 9 months+ between 1 April and 31 August
Funding period starting on or after 1 January, if the child turns 9 months+ between 1 September and 31 December

Reservation Deposits

When I am requested to hold a place for a child, a reservation deposit may be required to secure a funded or privately paid for place. The reservation deposit of £50 would be refunded against the first/subsequent invoices or returned via BACs.

Termination of the contract

I reserve the right to terminate the contract immediately in the event of a child’s behaviour that endangers the safety of other children and adults around them, the unsuitable behaviour of parents or non-payment of fees following the non-payment procedure. In any other circumstances 4 weeks written notice can be given by either party.