From 2026/27, a nursery invoice in England has to be broken into five specific lines, with your free childcare hours shown on their own. That rule exists because a single blended figure makes it impossible to tell a lawful charge from an unlawful one — which, for years, was rather the point.
Here is what each line should say, and what it means when one of them is missing.
The five lines
| Line | What it covers | What you should pay |
|---|---|---|
| Funded entitlement hours | The hours government pays for | Nothing |
| Additional paid hours | Hours beyond your entitlement | Your provider's hourly rate |
| Food | Meals and snacks | Only if you opted in |
| Non-food consumables | Nappies, wipes, sun cream, formula | Only if you opted in |
| Activities | Trips, specialist classes, events | Only if you opted in |
The first line is the one to check first, and it should always come to zero. Funded hours are funded. If there is a per-hour charge sitting against them, by any name, that is a top-up fee and it is not allowed.
Check the hours arithmetic
Your entitlement is an annual number, not a weekly one. The 30-hour working-parent entitlement is 1,140 hours a year; the universal 15 hours for 3- and 4-year-olds is 570.
How that lands weekly depends on your provider's model:
- Term-time (38 weeks) — 1,140 ÷ 38 = 30 hours a week during term.
- Stretched (say 48 weeks) — 1,140 ÷ 48 ≈ 23.75 hours a week, all year.
Both are the same annual total. So before deciding a line is wrong, check which model your invoice is built on; it is usually stated in the header. A stretched invoice showing 23.75 funded hours is not short-changing you.
What is worth questioning is being billed at the full rate for hours that should have come out of your funded allocation — the overhang between what you used and what was funded. That is the most common real error, and it is arithmetic rather than interpretation.
Reading the charge lines
For each of the last three lines, ask the same two questions: did I agree to this, and could I decline it?
You should have completed a declaration before your child started, recording your hours pattern and which optional charges you chose. If a charge appears that is not on that declaration, that is worth raising on its own.
Specific things that should prompt a question:
- A flat per-hour charge labelled consumables, enrichment, sustainability, enhanced ratios or similar. Blanket hourly charges across funded hours are specifically not allowed, whatever they are called.
- A single blended rate covering funded and paid hours together. This fails the itemisation requirement outright.
- Charges with no name — "additional costs", "supplement", "admin". A charge has to be identified and itemised to be permitted.
- Registration or deposit fees tied to taking up a funded place, where they are non-refundable.
- Anything for SEND support billed as part of your funded hours.
What good looks like
A compliant invoice is boring. It shows the five categories separately, each with a quantity and a rate. The funded line is zero. The optional lines match what you ticked. Your provider's prices for those extras are published, so you can check the rate you are being charged is the rate they advertise.
If yours already looks like that, you can stop here — most do once the itemisation rule beds in.
If something does not add up
- Ask for a breakdown and the declaration you signed. Phrase it as a question, not an accusation. A good proportion of problem invoices are formatting, not intent.
- Put it in writing if the answer does not resolve it, naming the line and asking them to confirm the opt-out or remove the charge.
- Contact your council's early years team. They fund the places and are responsible for provider compliance.
- Escalate to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if the council does not resolve it.
Common questions
My invoice shows funded hours at £0 but my total went up anyway
Then the increase is in the other lines. Compare this invoice with the last one line by line — food and consumables rates can rise, and extra paid hours are charged at whatever the provider's rate now is.
Can they charge a higher hourly rate for my paid hours than for funded ones?
Yes. Providers set their own rate for additional hours. What they cannot do is charge you the difference between that rate and the council's funding rate on the funded hours themselves.
We opted out of meals. Can they still include a food line?
It should not appear at all. If it does, ask for it to be removed and for confirmation that the packed-lunch arrangement is recorded.
What if my provider does not itemise at all?
Ask them to. The requirement is current for 2026/27 and applies to every provider delivering funded entitlement hours.