Oh help, I'm befuddled again now.
Let's assume a CM takes on a child for 15 hours funded, plus some additional hours.
The parent gets 15 hours for free, for which the CM gets say £3.75ph and doesn't charge any additions to that for the free 15 hours. (OK, I get that bit.)
Does the CM have to charge only £3.75ph for the additional hours too, ie. the hours that the parent does pay for?
No, you would charge your normal rate
Or is the CM allowed to charge up to their 'normal rate' for the additional hours?
What if (like me and some other CMs) there is no 'normal rate'?
You cannot be seen to be charging a parent extra to make up a shortfall - that's not inclusive.
So you can't charge £4 per hour for Flossie and Jane who attend 2 days a week each - but £4.50 per hour for George because he has 15 hours free but as you receive a much lower rate than your normal rate you want to make up some of the difference on the extra hours mum wants...
What if some of the hours are taken at "anti-social hours" like evenings and weekends, when the CM would usually be charging a higher rate anyway?
Well yes as long as it is your normal rate - all families would pay the same amount regardless of whether the children come for funded sessions or not.
Also, what happens to the funding if there are absences for any reason? Does the CM get paid if the lo is sick or goes on holiday when the CM is open?
This is a grey area - some LAs did big audits last year and claimed back funding for children who did not attend / were on long term sick etc - but it didn't happen everywhere.
I think it will become more common though because they are all getting tighter with money.
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