Nursery World - Nursery Food: 30-Hour Childcare

The funding gap related to the 30 hours offer will hit settings hard, but Annette Rawstrone finds many are determined to keep food quality high

Nursery food is one of the areas of provision expected to be strongly affected when the 30-hour free childcare offer comes in later this year. With funding rates tight, it’s thought that nurseries will be forced to reduce the amount that they spend on ingredients – which may have an adverse effect on quality – or start charging parents an additional fee for meals.

‘Nurseries need to make their books balance – rents are up, business rates are not going down and we can’t cut staff numbers and keep to ratios. Where can nurseries cut corners? We may find that that happens with food, and that high-calorific, low-cost food is increasingly used in nurseries if the funding is inadequate,’ warns London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) chief executive June O’Sullivan.

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