If early years grant monies were allowed to be spent in voucher form as either a contribution towards nursery fees or in full payment depending upon a setting's individual charges, parents would be able to access all settings, making a personal choice as to how much they wished to invest or sacrifice in relation to their child's care.
It is healthy for the daycare market to offer parents a wide variety of settings, but you cannot run a Mercedes on Ford budgets. The higher the quality of childcare and the setting accommodating it, the higher the overheads and subsequently the fees to support it.
Personally, with waiting lists in all departments and high customer satisfaction, I have no fear of our continued viability, regardless of Government policy. But in the light of current policy and proposals, I can see no way in which our day nursery will remain within the NEG scheme if we are to be hamstrung by a one-price-for-all approach. This would be a great shame, as the net result would be that some parents would be effectively denied choice - the opposite of what Government says it desires.
Flexibility within a system is a strength, not a weakness. I sincerely hope that policymakers are able to see the value of keeping all providers under one roof and enabling freedom and choice for all.
Hugh Brook, Ellingham House Day Nursery, Ellingham, Hampshire.