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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Kevin Rawlinson

Nurseries in England charging extra fees to cover funding gap, campaigners say

England Bridget Phillipson Neil Leitch
Pre-school children and teachers sit together in a room, with a pile of small plastic blocks in the foreground
In a survey last year, nearly three-quarters of parents whose children were attending formal childcare reported having to pay for extras. Photograph: Alex Hinds/Alamy

Parents of nursery children in England are being charged extra fees to cover for government underfunding of free childcare hours, with some paying thousands of pounds a year for consumables such as food, wipes and nappies, campaigners have said.

The comments came as the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, asked the competition watchdog to investigate hidden extra charges that parents have encountered when trying to access government-funded childcare.

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