Phillipson orders CMA review of hidden childcare charges hitting parents

The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has written to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) requesting a review of hidden charges in the childcare sector. The watchdog will examine practices such as non-refundable deposits, mandatory additional fees, and restrictions placed on government-funded places that may be preventing families from accessing the full benefit of subsidised childcare hours. This intervention comes as the government continues its phased expansion of funded early years provision, which is intended to reduce costs for working parents. However, there are growing concerns that some providers are offsetting the cost of delivering government-funded hours by imposing extra charges, potentially undermining the policy's affordability objectives. The CMA review will assess whether these practices comply with competition law and represent fair treatment of families accessing early years provision.