A nursery which has almost doubled its daily fees in the past three years warned providers are being forced to “charge more, or close” under new government rules.
Chestnut Nurseries, which has schools in Norwich, North Walsham, Taverham, and Sprowston, will begin charging parents £80 a day per child from April, up from £56 per day three years ago.
The 43pc increase has alarmed many parents, with some questioning whether they can afford to keep sending their children to the nursery.
Rebecca Wright, who lives in Norwich with her two-year-old daughter, said: “The fee increases really hurt parents, especially those with more than one child of nursery age.
“Trying to find 46pc more money every day just for child care is obscene - our salaries certainly haven’t gone up by that much to make up for it.
“We’ve been used to seeing increases of around 7pc a year, so the past few years have been unprecedented.”
But, she said, despite the issues the rise in fees are causing, most parents don’t blame the nurseries.
READ MORE: Rise in childcare costs forcing women into shelving careers
She said: “Everyone was jubilant when the government announced it was extending who could claim free childcare hours, but the problem is they haven’t funded the nurseries properly to be able to offer it.
“The result has been the schools have had to put their prices up, and so parents have ended up paying for it anyway.”
At the moment, working parents of three and four-year-olds in England are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare per week during term time.
But in the spring budget 2023, Jeremy Hunt said the scheme would be extended to cover younger children on a phased basis.
From April, eligible two-year-olds will be entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week during term time, with the coverage extending to children nine months and older starting in September.
All children between nine months and school age will be entitled to 30 hours per week from September 2025.
Karen Broughton, managing director of Chestnut Nursery Schools, said the biggest issue is that under the scheme, private fees will be replaced by lower government fees, resulting in a loss of around £2 an hour per child.
She said: “The new rules have hit providers hard, with Norfolk being our lowest hourly rate awarded in terms of government funding.
“The overall cost of providing childcare has significantly increased, to the point that a high number of childcare providers have closed.
“The fee increases were not taken lightly, but by increasing them to this amount we can provide high-quality childcare, and jobs for local people, as well as being sustainable as a business.
“We put our fees up in April, while others put them up in September, so it will be interesting to see how much other schools have to raise theirs.
“We do understand this is hard for parents and we will help parents as much as possible.”
A survey of 98 local authorities last year suggested nearly half expected closures of early years settings last year to create risks to sufficiency.
“Insufficient income” to meet rising costs and “workforce-related issues” were among the key drivers behind some of the closures, according to the report.
Figures released in 2023 showed the number of childcare providers registered with Ofsted had decreased by 4,800 since 2022.
Ms Wright added: “The government has given with one hand but taken with the other.
“It wants women back in the workforce after giving birth but is making it impossible for us to do so.
"Something needs to change, or we're headed for a very bad situation indeed."
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