Some Bay parents face $60 a week rise in childcare

Parents of some children in early childhood education will be left out of pocket despite Prime Minister John Key's assurance that no-one will be "worse off" after receiving tax cuts.
Many early childhood education providers are looking at raising fees following changes in the financing of early childhood education, announced in this year's Budget.
The Budget has done away with two of the highest bands of subsidy for childcare centres, effectively cutting funds to centres with more than 80 per cent of their staff trained.
 
Peter Monteith, principal of Tauranga Region Kindergartens, which oversees 19 kindergartens in the Western Bay of Plenty, said a working party had been established to develop a funding model to minimise the impact of the Budget announcements.
Mr Monteith said raising fees was only one of the options Tauranga kindergartens would consider. "Our plan will be developed in consultation with parents and staff."
However Wayne Wright, Tauranga owner of New Zealand's largest private provider of early childhood education, Kidicorp, said he had no choice but to increase fees at his early childcare centres to compensate for the 2.5 per cent GST rise.
Centres around the country are doing their sums, with the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) warning that a shortfall could be passed on to parents, with some facing up to a $60 a week rise in costs.
For a child aged under two that is in fulltime care seven days a week, with no subsidies, Kidicorp parents could expect an increase of around $4.80 on top of their normal $180 a week fee, Mr Wright said. "It's purely and simply a pass-through of the GST increase."
Mr Wright said there had been a 2.4 per cent cost of living adjustment but only on "non-wage costs".
"Wage costs are about 66 per cent of our total cost and what they did was give a cost of living increase on top of everything, but wages."
Mr Wright said the Government decision not to have 100 per cent qualified teachers in early childhood education was not a bad one, given "very few" centres run with that ratio anyway. "Numerous tasks can be done by people well versed in childcare."
Qualified teachers play a vital role in child development and so do quality carers, he said.
Education Minister Anne Tolley said the numbers predicted by NZEI were "speculation" and many centres were likely to decide against fee increases.
Mr Key said tax cuts, announced in the May 20 Budget, meant middle and low-income earners would not be worse off.
Childcare centres with more than 80 per cent qualified teachers will have their subsidy cut from $12.45 an hour to $10.88, per child. About half the country's early childhood operators
will be affected.
Debbie Mortlock, administrator of Bright Beginnings Community Childcare Centre in Papamoa, said they were "holding back" at the moment. "We are still assessing our budget but are hoping not to."
Childcare centres were aware parents were "anxious and worried," she said.
Penny Tkaczuk, franchisee of PORSE In-Home Childcare in Tauranga, said she was "truly excited" the Government did not play with the ECE hours, as anticipated by the sector. PORSE would not be putting up their rates, she said.
Craig Presland, chief executive  of ABC Learning Centres, of which there are seven in  Western Bay, said fees would be increased to compensate not only for GST, but the reduction in  funding.