nursery fee's - how much do you pay ?

[glasgow guy]

need some info here folks..the other half has been to see a nursery today - the name of escapes me just now (will get it later) - anyway they charge £140 a week - now obviously this being my first child I thought this to be rather steep - is this the case ? are there cheaper ones ?? or should I not grumble ??

cheers

[Kitkat]

Seems about right, most nurseries charge £25 - £30 per day, just check as some will include nappies and extras, as some ask you to provide your own.
have a good look round at all the nurseries as some are better than others, just drop in and ask to look round, if they welcome you in its usually a good sign. My Grandson attends Heathlands (near Accrington College) and his mum is very pleased with it, they seem to prepare them for school.

[MargaretR]

HM Revenue & Customs: Childcare costs - Help with
Hope this link might help. I used an LCC nursery in 1966 till 69 and I remember that HALF my wage went on those fees.

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by glasgow guy

need some info here folks..the other half has been to see a nursery today - the name of escapes me just now (will get it later) - anyway they charge £140 a week - now obviously this being my first child I thought this to be rather steep - is this the case ? are there cheaper ones ?? or should I not grumble ??

cheers

How old is your child? The fees start off most expensive in baby room which is for children aged up to 2 years and decrease as the child moves groups as they get older. I take it that you have been quoted £140 for a full time place in baby room.....am I right? If so then unfortunately that is more or less the norm.

Depending on your income you may be entitled to some assistance from the Working Families Tax Credit though.

Check it out.

[entwisi]

depending on your employer there are also schemes that let you get up tp £250/month tax free by a voucher scheme. My employers use care-4 but there are a few different ones.

[West Ender]

I used to see the amount of nursery fees paid on Tax Credit claims and this sounds about right. Provided you are both working and your joint income is less than £68K a year you should be able to claim 80% of your childcare costs in Tax Credits as long as the nursery is Ofsted registered.

[harwood red]

Just to clarify what westender has said

you can claim 80% of your childcare fees to be deducted from your income before working out your award of tax credits

just thought I would make that clear as it made it sound like you would get 80% of your fees paid!!

[firth_dawn]

that seems about right my niece pays about £140 a week for her son but she gets help with the fees as she is at uni

[onlyme]

Hiya

If there are two parents living with the child, and both are working you may be able to get some help with childcare if they are offsted registered, however if one of you is not working, they will not grant any element of childcare in working tax as they say that the un-working (?) parent could look after the child. If the chils is 3 they are allowed 12.5hrs of childcare through approved childminders or nurserys paid for by government. This depends on when the 3rd birthday falls as to when this scheme starts.

A chepaer (and in my opinion better) method of childcare is a childminder. My son attends a childminder full time (9-5) and it costs £100 p.w (again you may be able to get extra tax credits to help with the costs), and she is excellant. She looks after 2 other children (1 part time, 1 full time) and goes to playgroups almost everyday, there is obviously a lot more attention paid to the child than in a nursery, and my son sees her and her family as an extended part of his own family (she even put a birthday party on for him this year!)

He initially went to a nursery, and the ratio of carer to child is 4 kids to 1 carer for the under 2's, then i think it went up to 6-7 kids to 1 carer after the age of 2, which was one the reasons for me changing. Also with a childminder, they have more flexibility to follow your own home routine (with naps, food etc). A lot of people think that the education the child receives at nursery is better than a childminder, however my son (just gone 3 end of sept) can count to 20 in english, 10 in spanish (thanks to Dora the explorer lol), knows colours, shapes, etc, says please and thankyou and so on, all of which he has picked up in the last year.

Obviously it depends on the child minder but I am more than happy with the care he receives and knowing that he is happy and comfortable when i work

Feel free to pm for more details. I hated the fact my son had to be cared for by someone else, but to be honest, I have nevere looked back. My relationship with him has improved dramatically as well as he is no longer bored with me and is slowly making his own steps to indeependance lol

[West Ender]

Originally Posted by harwood red

Just to clarify what westender has said

you can claim 80% of your childcare fees to be deducted from your income before working out your award of tax credits

just thought I would make that clear as it made it sound like you would get 80% of your fees paid!!

Childcare fees are not deducted from the claimant's income. If they were, you would, in effect, be given credit for the full amount of fees paid.

Part of my job was to recalculate Tax Credits where there was an incorrectly awarded amount in payment. In a Tax Credit calculation the income is used as the basis then award elements are given (basic WTC, 30 hour element, number of children etc.). The childcare element is actually given on a daily basis, through the year, at a rate dependent on the weekly amount shown in the claim, and is capped at 80% of the amount verified as paid but is subject to tapering, depending on income, periods of non-employment etc. The amount of the award includes the 80% fees claimed, subject to tapering.

[West Ender]

CPAG in Scotland: Tax Credits Project: Tax Credits and Childcare

This site shows how child care fees are given in the calculation. It's not exclusive to Scotland, just a Scottish site.

[MargaretR]

Westender - they wont let you retire yet - I found that out when I retired from DHSS - you will get asked for info until the regulations change and your info gets out of date.
I posted a link at post 3 of this thread - but I found it a bit confusing to read (I am past it - retired 14 years ago )

[West Ender]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Westender - they wont let you retire yet - I found that out when I retired from DHSS - you will get asked for info until the regulations change and your info gets out of date.
I posted a link at post 3 of this thread - but I found it a bit confusing to read (I am past it - retired 14 years ago )

I've already had 2 people asking me for help completing their complicated tax returns ("Well it's all right now you don't work for them, isn't it?"). I referred them to my elder daughter - she's an accountant and she charges for it!

I hadn't read through your link, Margaret, but it does show much the same info as I gave. Sorry about that. I think the whole Tax Credit system is far too complicated for most claimants and there's a lot of confusion about what to claim and what's allowable. Now, if only Gordon Brown had consulted me...........

[BERNADETTE]

All the claim forms are over complicated IMO. Welfare Rights will help anyone who is struggling to fill forms in. (sorry bit of a thread wander)