It’s Thursday, 7:12am. Post-half-term invoices have gone out and the phone is already blinking. A parent is polite but puzzled: “It says free hours, and then there’s a charge for meals. Is that allowed?”

It is, if the choice is genuine, the charge sits separate from the funded hours, and there is a practical alternative. The law has always promised that early education entitlements are free at the point of use. What changed this year is how clearly we must show it.

From April this year, the wording tightened. In the new year, every invoice should present funded hours at £0.00 and any optional items on distinct lines, with websites set out in the same way. Parents must be able to take the entitlement without buying anything they didn’t choose.

That is good for families and exacting for operators. I am writing from the provider side, having dealt personally with more than 40 local authorities in the past year. The paperwork varies with every local authority, with different rates, provider agreements and audit appetite. The direction does not.

We need models that survive a parent’s question and an auditor’s query with equal ease. For me, that begins with three rules you can say in one breath and live by every day.

• Charges must be voluntary.
• Charges must be itemised.
• Parents must have a real alternative.

Voluntary means parents actively opt in, rather than having elements pre-selected or “bundled”, with extras packaged together in a way that removes real choice. Parents should be able to select any item, or none. Itemised means a discrete line on the bill and the same wording on the website. A real alternative means parents can say “no, thank you” and still access their funded hours without stigma or friction. Break any one of those and you are back in the grey.

The financial reality explains why this clarity matters. Funding is not flat across age cohorts. Pass-through from local authorities has improved, but in many places the rate for over-threes still sits below full operating cost. That is the pinch point. If that rate met cost, the pressure to rely on essentials and extras would fall away for most providers. Until it does, the sector must adapt lawfully, transparently and, crucially, with empathy for parents navigating a cost of living squeeze. If we do not adapt, we shrink capacity just when families need it most.

The cleanest way to adapt is to separate the product you must deliver from the conveniences families may choose. Build a ‘core’ offer that delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage within the funded hours without fees. Then offer a ‘plus’ layer that families can add. In practice that means meals and snacks; sensible non-food consumables such as nappies, wipes, creams, sun cream or formula where that applies; and genuinely optional enrichment. For example, off-site trips, forest school sessions, or visiting specialists in music, movement or languages. None of these is required to deliver the EYFS.

Two guardrails keep this honest. First, if you cannot name it and price it, don’t charge for it. Retire the euphemisms that read like shadow top-ups. Second, mirror website to invoice. Use the same categories, the same words, the same logic. If parents read your fees page and then open their bill, they should recognise it instantly.

When you do that, admissions become a conversation, not a trap. The line I use is simple: “Your government-funded hours are completely free. Many families choose meals or activities for convenience; here is what they cost and how to opt in or out. Whatever you choose, your child’s funded hours remain free.” We reconfirm choices each term and record consent. That keeps everyone honest and keeps the relationship warm.

The most contested piece of this is food. Guidance is clear that meal charges must be optional and that parents must be able to take the entitlement even if they don’t pay. The obvious alternative is bring your own (BYO). On paper, that looks friendly. In practice, it complicates safeguarding and shifts risk.

Mixed sources increase the chance of allergen cross-contact, including airborne exposure in some contexts. Handling and storage of chilled and frozen food and hygiene become harder to standardise across dozens of lunchboxes; one lapse and you have a preventable incident. Packed lunches, on average, are less balanced than setting-provided menus, which muddies your nutrition story and the expectations you set for children. And while a child is on site the duty of care sits with the provider. If a packed lunch causes harm, you will still answer for the systems around it.

If you charge for meals, parents must have a viable no-cost route. That can be allowing a packed lunch or waiving the meal charge. I am not anti BYO; I am anti unmanaged BYO. Where you allow BYO, publish clear standards on contents, labelling and storage, enforce a no-sharing rule, train staff to check and keep the checks proportionate and consistent, and document exceptions.

My preference is to discourage BYO and instead price meals fairly and show the cost basis in plain English, giving a short explanation of what the fee covers (for example, ‘Meal charge covers ingredients etc, priced at cost, not used as a top-up for funded hours’). It is not a line-by-line cost breakdown.

Nurseries should also run tight mealtime protocols, including up-to-date allergy action plans; a named checker at every sitting responsible for allergy cross-checks, verifying plates against plans, and final sign-off; and, as the updated EYFS now makes explicit across safer-eating guidance, a practitioner with a full Paediatric First Aid certificate present while children are eating. That is safer, clearer and, over time, more sustainable.

There are, inevitably, ways to get this wrong. The most common are also the least defensible. Compulsory bundles, enhanced offers or ‘resources’ fees that make access to funded hours conditional on payment. Artificial session design that pins the free entitlement between payable blocks. Fuzzy websites with no prices, no examples and no mention of opt-outs. And the bogus alternative: ‘bring a packed lunch’ wrapped in conditions so restrictive or impractical that parents have no real choice.

If your BYO policy demands packaging or contents most families cannot meet, refuses reasonable refrigeration, adds a handling charge, or separates children at mealtimes, you are effectively charging for lunch. They are not clever workarounds; they invite complaints and refunds, erode trust and, in time, occupancy. Put them right before they put you on the back foot.

So, what does good look like, on the ground, when you strip the jargon away? It looks like a clean invoice in which the funded portion shows as £0.00 and everything else is clearly separated by category. It looks like private hours listed plainly, meals listed plainly, consumables listed plainly, and any optional activities listed by name. It looks like a website that matches the bill, with the same headings and a couple of worked examples that a parent can understand in under a minute. It looks like a single ‘charging, essentials and extras’ policy with local-authority addenda where that is necessary. These would be used mainly by multi-site groups operating across different local authorities, including, for example, different absence and grace-period rules.

The policy should spell out what you will charge for, and what you will not. It should state that you will not charge for anything required to deliver the EYFS, that you will not charge for general running costs, that you will not apply top-ups, and that you will not demand deposits or registration fees as a condition of taking a funded place. It should explain opt-outs, termly re-consent, and your stance on BYO and allergies. And it looks like a trained admissions team who lead with the promise that free means free, and who know the difference between explaining and upselling.

Governance matters because transparency fails without evidence. We run monthly spot-checks of invoices. We do a termly review of parent queries and issues that local authorities have raised with us. We track a handful of measures that tell a real story: the percentage of funded hours delivered, uptake of optional items, arrears, refunds issued, and any common themes in complaints. If something trends the wrong way, fix it and show that you have. This is not box-ticking. It is how you keep trust.

Parents appreciate clarity. Staff appreciate a simple playbook. Boards appreciate economics that add up without legal risk. The new rules, done properly, can deliver all three. The real work now is cultural – design for choice and transparency, then hold that line in every conversation, every invoice, every term. Free must feel free, not free-ish.

That leaves a final, reasonable ask of government. If the rate for over-threes met operating cost, much of the heat would leave this debate. Providers could deliver the entitlement as intended without leaning on optional services to balance the books, and parents would be spared the noise. Earlier local authority announcements and fewer in-year changes would help too. Families will not plan around shifting sands, and nor can staffing models. Consistent enforcement matters as well, because nothing undermines trust like compliant settings being undercut by those who bend the rules.

Until then, we make the promise explicit and we keep it. The conversation with the parent on the phone ends the way it should. I explain the lines on the bill. I make clear that nothing in the funded hours carries a fee. I set out the choices plainly and how to opt out of anything the parent does not want. And I offer this pledge, which we print on the website and mean in practice. Your government-funded hours are completely free. You do not have to buy anything to access them. If you choose meals or activities, we will show you the price up front and you can change your mind at any time. When that pledge is true, on paper, on screen and in the room, the blinking light on the phone stops feeling like trouble and starts sounding like trust.

Appendix: Charging and transparency checklist

1) Invoices and billing

Funded hours shown as £0.00 for the exact number of hours delivered.

Optional items listed on separate lines: Private hours; Meals and snacks (optional); Non-food consumables (optional); Activities and enrichment (optional).

Each invoice includes the setting’s full details, child identifier and billing period.

The wording on the invoice matches the wording on your website.

Worked examples available for common patterns (funded only; funded plus private hours; funded plus meals).

Plain-English test: can a parent see at a glance that funded hours cost £0.00 and everything else is optional and priced?

2) Website and written policy

A single Fees, Charging, Essentials and Extras page, easy to find from the homepage.

Same categories, same language as on invoices.

Clear statement: funded hours are free at the point of use; optional charges are voluntary with a real opt-out.

BYO stance stated plainly, with standards if accepted.

Allergy information and how you manage safer eating.

Deposit policy: only reasonable and refundable for funded places, with terms written in plain English.

Downloadable opt-out form.

Last reviewed date visible; target full alignment by January 2026.

3) Admissions and parent communications

Script that starts with “Your funded hours are free.”

Menu of optional items with prices and how to opt in or out.

Written confirmation of choices at sign-up; termly reconfirmation.

No pressure selling; choices recorded on the child’s file.

4) Meals, BYO and safer eating

If you accept BYO, publish standards on contents, labelling and storage; enforce no sharing.

Cold chain and storage checks recorded; staff trained to carry them out.

Allergy action plans are current and accessible.

A practitioner with full Paediatric First Aid is present while children are eating.

Menu and allergen matrix available to parents.

5) Pricing discipline

Meals priced from a simple cost base, not used as a proxy top-up.

Consumables priced at cost-reflective rates; parents may supply their own where practical.

Enrichment priced per session with clear notice periods; cancellation terms are fair and short.

No vague bundles, no “resources” fees, no “enhanced ratios” charges.

6) Session design and timetables

No artificial structures that place funded hours between two paid blocks.

Daily plans show where funded hours sit, and how private hours are added if chosen.

7) Governance and assurance

Monthly invoice audit: invoices checked against policy wording and website.

Termly review of parent queries, complaints, and any local authority escalations.

KPI pack to board: percentage of funded hours delivered; opt-out rate for optional items; uptake of optional items; arrears; refunds issued; time to resolve complaints; number of LA queries; BYO proportion and incidents.

Record a decision log for any changes to fees or categories.

8) Deposits and registration

Funded places: a reasonable, refundable deposit to reserve a place is permitted. Refund it in full within reasonable period after the child starts; retain it only if the place is not taken up without sufficient notice. Consider waiving the deposit where it would deter take-up (e.g. disadvantaged entitlements).

Registration fees: do not require a registration fee as a condition of taking a funded place.

9) Staff training and culture

Induction covers funded-hours rules, the three tests (voluntary, itemised, real alternative), and your BYO stance.

Role-play admissions conversations; the first line is “Your funded hours are free.”

Mystery shop a phone call and an email each half-term to check tone and compliance.

Mealtime protocol is rehearsed and signed off by room leaders.

10) Local authority agreements

Central repository of provider agreements, rates and supplements.

Team knows the local variations that apply to your settings.

One named person owns LA relationships and updates the policy when guidance shifts.

11) Data and MIS setup

Funding codes mapped correctly; funded hours appear as £0.00 on invoices.

Optional items have fixed, descriptive codes that match the website.

Audit trail on changes to prices and categories.

12) Red flags to fix immediately

Compulsory “bundles” that include meals or consumables.

“Resources” or “enhanced ratios” fees without a defined, optional service.

Free hours wedged between compulsory paid time.

Website without prices, examples or opt-outs.

BYO permitted in theory but blocked by impractical conditions.

Deposits that are not refunded when the child takes up the funded place.

13) Ninety-day plan

Now: align website and invoices; publish the opt-out form; remove bundles and vague fees.

Next: train admissions; refresh allergy and mealtime protocols; confirm PFA cover at every sitting.

Then: run the first monthly invoice audit; present the KPI pack to your board; log any policy tweaks.

14) Parent pledge

Your government-funded hours are completely free. You do not have to buy anything to access them. If you choose meals or activities, we will show you the price up front and you can change your mind at any time.