The concern has been raised after it emerged that the mother of a child who was entitled to 30 hours a week free provision at a local nursery was given no option but to pay additional fees for “consumables” by the provider for two years.
The ombudsman found that the nursery’s invoicing was not “clear or transparent” and the council should have done more to tackle charges faced by local parents.
The council did identify some issues with the provider’s charging but “did not do enough to get to the bottom of the problem”.
A specific concern is a failure to resolve the mother’s complaint and ensuring she was reimbursed. The council is also slammed for failing to ensure the problems around charging are not repeated.
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