Costs of nurseries hitting parents hard - Kramer

12.00.00am GMT Tue 30th Jan 2007

Susan Kramer (Lib Dem MP for Richmond) has expressed concerns about the findings of the latest survey on the costs of child care. The Daycare Trust research shows that the London area is one of the more expensive areas to send a child to a nursery.

Susan Kramer said:

"The government's scheme is impacting on private nurseries' staff costs which have a significant share of the nursery market in our area.

"Government funded children's centres are providing £7,000 a year more in salaries for posts like nursery managers forcing private nurseries to match the pay or lose staff.

"This then impacts on the fees charges to parents. I have had local nurseries telling me about these problems.

"The funding arrangements need to be reviewed to ensure that child care is more affordable for all."