'Get real' on nursery costs

In a report published yesterday (Wednesday), the NDNAhighlights the problems experienced by many nurseries across the country. It has written to children's minister Beverley Hughes proposing a four-point action plan.

Measures include extra funding for local authorities or an interim amnesty allowing nurseries to charge top-up fees.

Last week, in a letter sent to local authority chief executives, the Government reiterated its commitment to ban nurseries from charging top-up fees.

The crux of the problem, the NDNA said, is under-funding. It also accused local authorities of over-regulation, effectively 'gold-plating' the Code of Practice by imposing 'time-consuming requirements' on nurseries.

NDNAchief executive Purnima Tanuku said, 'We need a clear picture of how local authorities are allocating the funding - is it fairly across the board, and if not, why not? We're fully in agreement with the free entitlement, but the issue is how that works in reality. The Government needs to take a close look at how the money is being distributed and ask why local authority funding is not covering the cost.'