Charged for free 15 hours?

[beth12346789]

I have asked a few times at nursery how the 15 hours free works. They told me they charge for the 15 hours plus others my daughter uses and then reimburse by cheque at the end of term.
She starts her free 15 hours after Easter and as I was unhappy with this set up I checked with teh council. It turns out they cannot do this and the council claim to have contacted teh nursery and explained this.
I have recieved the bill for April (shodul get 1 week with 15 hours free) and I am being charged for all hours. When busband queried this he was told something about head count day blah blah.
I pay by chilcare voucher so apart from a) they are not supposed to do this b) I coudl be committing tax fraud by paying with vounchers and being reimbursed money I havent paid tax on.

Anyone else come across this?

[3boys3dogshelp]

Yes lots of nurseries do this as their hourly rate is highrr than the amount they are given. They are not allowed though so speak to them again.

[mygrandchildrenrock]

Your nursery is quite right that they have a head count day and will only receive funding for children registered for their early years entitlement (eye) on this day. Many Local Authorities give settings an interim payment based on projected numbers, it might be that your LA doesn't do this, or your nursery forgot to put your daughter down on the projected numbers.

Settings are not allowed to charge parents 'top up' fees though, as 3boys says.