Should LA pay for nursery add ons?

[Mumofmanytalents]

Hi, I've had my child on an SGO for 2 years. She was a looked after child before she came to me and I'm connection to her is family friend. I've had her with me since she was 15wks old. She started nursery in April 2024, and although I don't pay for her placement, I'm paying over £200 a month for meals/sundrys. The nursery are aware that she's a LAC child, but have billed me since she started. Is this correct or should the LA be covering the cost?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Mumofmanytalents,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the kinship carers’ forum. I am Suzie, an online adviser replying to you today.

You explain that you care for a child under a special guardianship order and you want to know if you must meet the cost of the meals and sundries or whether the local authority is responsible for the cost.

Your child was previously looked after – but now that she is living with you under special guardianship she is no longer looked after. However she does retain certain entitlements due to her previous looked after status.

You explain that you do not pay for your child’s nursery placement – so clearly you have an agreement in place with the local authority about help with the cost of her nursery education. I can only suggest that you speak with the special guardianship social work support team (sometimes called the permanence team, or post-order team) for a specific response about the extra cost of the £200 monthly cost of meals and sundries.

For general information I will outline two possible sources of financial help for nursery fees available to special guardians of previously looked after children.

Two-year-olds who were previously looked after and are now in special guardianship are entitled to 15 hours free pre-school education. All three- and four-year-old children in England are entitled to 15 hours of government-funded childcare or early education for 38 weeks (up to 570 hours per year), that you can use flexibly with one or more providers. Local authorities have a duty to ensure that this free provision is available in the are but not all providers have to offer it.

There is a local Family Information Service in every English local authority area. They can provide you with information about local childcare provision and services. You can find details of your local Family Information Service by contacting the Family and Childcare Trust here.

You can read more about kinship care and the education system in a Family Rights Group advice sheet on these issues here - education system in England for kinship carers .

Should you require more than 15 hours pre-school provision for your child those hours are chargeable, and you will need to speak to a social worker or social work manager from the team responsible for supporting special guardians about possible help with the fees and the extra costs you describe. You may be in receipt of a means tested special guardianship allowance from the local authority where your child was previously looked after. Special guardianship allowances are means tested and nursery fees should be counted as expenditure in this financial assessment and affect the amount you are paid.

Also, under regulation 6b of the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005 here where the local authority consider that a child needs special care which requires a greater expenditure of resources than would otherwise be the case because of her illness, disability, emotional or behavioural difficulties or the consequences of his past abuse or neglect, extra financial help can be provided. So if your child has an illness or disability, you could be entitled to extra financial help. If your child does not have an illness or disability you could still argue that her early experiences mean that nursery attendance is of particular importance to her development and that the local authority should assist you with the cost of the meals and sundries the nursery is charging you for.

Family Rights Group have an advice sheet on practical and financial assistance for special guardians which you can read here.

I hope this information was useful.

Please feel free to come back to us for further advice. You could post again here or use our free telephone advice line open Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 3pm (excluding Bank Holidays) on 0808 801 0366.
Best wishes,
Suzie