Findings from a survey of providers, reveal that 89 per cent are likely to increase fees this year, while more than a third believe they will have to close their setting within the next year due to rising costs.
The Early Years Alliance poll, which ran from 10 to 23 January and received 1,156 responses from pre-schools, nurseries and childminders, found that respondents planned an average fee increase of 8 per cent.
One respondent said, ‘For the first time since the setting opened, we are at risk of closure. I cannot keep paying my staff an appropriate wage when I have to balance increasing bills. I do not want to pass all the costs onto parents, and fear that if I do then their children will not attend so the end result will be the same. I do not understand how any business can be expected to support such a huge percentage increase in salaries. The other options are to reduce how much we spend on food and resources which goes against everything I believe in and the purpose of running the pre-school.’
Another commented, ‘The increase in the national minimum wage will increase our outgoings by £58,000 in the 2023/24 financial year. We have no way of covering this other than increasing fees for parents. This will make our daily fee price too expensive for many families using our nursery. This is likely to reduce the number of children attending nursery and therefore we will continue to make a loss. There is no way out of this situation without more financial help from the Government.’
