Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council has been asked to partially reimburse the fees a father paid while his daughter was receiving free nursery care.
The child attended nursery, with some of the hours being paid for by the council under the Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) free places scheme, while the family paid the remainder.
The father complained to the council that the nursery was not providing him with an itemised bill.
An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the council failed to work with the provider to ensure its invoices were transparent.
It also found that the nursery was applying a daily charge for consumables of more than £13 for the man’s child, but did not make parents aware that this was an optional payment.
Paul Najsarek, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: ‘Statutory guidance is clear: councils should work with providers to ensure invoices and receipts are clear, transparent and itemised.
‘We also made it clear in previous reports that ‘free must mean free’ and that nursery providers cannot bridge the gap between the council’s rate and their private rate by hiding charges in opaque bills and charging structures.’
A spokesperson for the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead said: ‘The council takes seriously our duty under the Free Early Education Entitlement, and every year we ensure hundreds of qualifying families secure free nursery provision.
‘In this particular case, we accept that things unfortunately didn’t go as well as usual, and we’ve already apologised to the family and paid the required reparation. In addition, we’ve already taken steps to reduce the risk of this happening again and we’re carefully considering the report’s findings and recommendations.’
